Gravity
by Fifilla
Summary: Every takeoff is optional, every landing is mandatory… in other words, for every takeoff, there WILL be a landing. Steve and Danny on a helicopter ride to Molokai – what could possibly go wrong? Shameless whump...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**  
>Unfortunately I don't own anything of Hawaii Five-0, it all belongs to CBS. But I wouldn't mind at all sharing my couch with the Five-0 team – feel free to come around whenever you like!<p>

**Notes:  
><strong>1) Danny obviously didn't mind flying in a helicopter in 1x13, he didn't seemed to be overly scared when the guys went to rescue Mary Ann. I admit that he did look a bit concerned in 2x10, but that was probably not about taking a ride in a helicopter but more about taking a ride in Tangerine ;-) Well, to cut a long story short, I think it would be possible for Danny to feel and act like he does in my story.

2) I do know some things about the EC 145 helicopter, especially about the cockpit instruments. However I don't know too much about flying, any errors concerning operating a helicopter are my own. For the sake of the story let's just pretend that everything is working as I described it. I just hope there are no pilots out there reading this…

3) English is not my native language, so please forgive me my mistakes.

**Thanks:**  
><strong>montez<strong>, thank you so much for betaing, for all the time and effort you put into my story – thank you so much for your continuing support, you are the best! :-)

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><p><em>Gravity never loses. The best you can hope for is a draw. (Anonymous)<em>

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><p><strong>Chapter 1:<strong>

Steve's stomach leaped as the red and yellow Eurocopter EC 145 banked sharply to the left. He grinned broadly as he pulled the cyclic stick further to the left, causing the helicopter to fly a soft curve over the ocean toward Molokai. He pushed on and let the aircraft once more sharply tilt over. God, he forgot how much he enjoyed that feeling; although the water had always been his favorite element, he definitely loved flying nearly as much.

With a big grin still on his face, McGarrett turned his head to the left, throwing a look at his partner. He expected to find Danny shrunken in his seat, tight lipped and white-knuckled fingers around the door handle, ready to give Steve a bloodcurdling lecture on his flying style. But what he never expected was the expression of pure joy on Danny's face, an expression that completely matched the one on Steve's face.

Steve frowned confusedly, pulling the cyclic sharply to the right to watch Danny's reaction at the sudden change in direction.

Williams threw him a brief wry look before he laughed out loudly, causing a strange crackle over the headphones.

"You're actually enjoying this, aren't you?" Steve asked half astonished, half amused.

"Wow, seems you're quite the detective today. Yes, Steven, actually I'm enjoying this very much," Danny replied grinning, slightly shaking his head as he closely watched his partner. "What? Did you think you could freak me out with your fancy little flight maneuvers?" Trying to decipher the expression on Steve's face, he added, "Seriously Steven? Is that a pout on your face? You really tried to scare me? Very mature, McGarrett."

Steve sheepishly shrugged his shoulders, asking curiously, "You don't mind my flying skills but you shriek like a little girl when I drive the car?"

Danny rolled his eyes, "It's not _the_ car, it's actually _my_ car, in case you've forgotten about that little fact. And for the record, I don't shriek."

"Well, whatever you say, Danno," Steve smirked. "But why aren't you… wait, what is the correct term… ah yes, why aren't you 'rationally concerned' when I'm flying?"

"You see, we're all alone up here," Danny explained, waving his hands erratically through the air. "No other traffic, no drunken drivers, no piece of dirt that you call a road, no cliffs where we can fall off. Yes, I definitely feel a lot safer in the air than on the road with you."

"And you don't mind at all if I'm doing things like this?" Steve asked with a devilish grin as he dropped the helicopter in a sudden nosedive.

"Not at all, Steven, not at all, "Danny laughed like a child in a rollercoaster. "On the contrary, I think it's great fun."

"Sometimes you still surprise me, Danny," Steve said, not without a hint of respect in his voice. "How come you like flying?"

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me, McGarrett," Danny smirked. "But if you need to know… there was a fellow cop back in Jersey, Bruce, who was a pilot. His family ran a little charter company, and often on the weekends he invited me to join him on some flights. I never had the time or money to achieve my own pilot's license, but Bruce would sometimes let me handle the controls when we were in the air. I've flown some different types of aircraft, mainly small planes like a Cessna Skycatcher or Stationair but also some small helicopters from time to time."

Steve looked almost shocked, "I didn't know that, Danny."

"As I said, there are a lot of things you don't know," Danny winked at him conspiratorially.

Steve studied him a minute before he finally asked, "So, you've flown a helicopter before?"

"Smaller ones than this, but yes," Danny nodded enthusiastically.

Pointing at the secondary flight controls at Danny's side of the cockpit, Steve said, "Okay, then go ahead."

Williams stared at him and Steve could clearly see the longing in his eyes. "You're letting me fly? You're sure about this?" Danny licked his lips, trying to swallow the sudden feelings of nervousness and anticipation that bubbled up in him.

"Yeah, why not, go ahead," Steve repeated, watching as Danny's hand slowly closed around the cyclic stick. "You ready?"

Danny swallowed, taking a deep breath as he briefly nodded, his brow furrowed in concentration.

McGarrett slowly released his grip around the controls, ready to interfere anytime if necessary.

"You're doing good, Danny, just relax a little," Steve encouraged a few minutes later, noticing contentedly how the strained expression on Danny's face finally changed into pure happiness.

Very carefully Danny pulled the cyclic stick a little to the right, turning the helicopter into a long-drawn bend. Williams grinned brightly, "I almost forgot how much fun this is."

"Turn a little bit more to the right, see Molokai over there?" Steve asked, pointing at the greenish spot of land a few miles away. "That's our goal. Fly parallel to the beach for another mile, then left inland. We should be able to see Mrs. Kalili's house soon. She said there's a big clearing where we can land." He leaned back in the seat, winking at Danny as he said, "Wake me up when it's time to deboard."

Danny laughed, "Oh no, Steve, I just said I can fly this thing, I never said I'm able to land. That's your job, babe."

"Roger that," Steve nodded in agreement. "As soon as we see the clearing I'll take over."

About fifteen minutes later Danny announced their arrival, reluctantly handing the controls back over to Steve. Preparing the landing, McGarrett turned his head briefly toward Danny as he nodded at him with admiration, "You did good, Danny, I'm really impressed."

"Thank you very much, Commander," Williams replied with sparkling eyes, giving his partner a sloppy salute, but Steve could see how happy Danny was about the praise.

Returning his attention to the task at hand, Steve looked down at the huge space with a small green painted house, which almost melted into the surrounding rainforest. He carefully descended the helicopter, gently touching down onto the dry grass. Shutting down the engine, he took off the headphones, quickly scanning their surroundings but Mrs. Kalili was nowhere to be seen. Steve frowned slightly, ignoring the moment of uneasiness that crept through his body, surely she couldn't have missed their arrival. Well, not that it really mattered if Mrs. Kalili showed up or not, she probably wouldn't be able to tell them anything useful.

McGarrett sighed silently as he recalled the meager facts about the strange case Five-0 was currently working on.

Three weeks ago, two employees of Imperial Cosmetics Inc. had been found dead only a few hours after they had testified that the company not only produced cosmetics but experimented with a new kind of synthetic drugs.

At that time it was still unclear to what extent the owner of Imperial Cosmetics, Paul Baines, knew about what was going on in his company. He seemed to be a nice, mild-mannered guy, always polite and eager to help Five-0 at any time.

The problem was that Baines had disappeared without a trace about ten days ago literally from one second to the other. He was supposed to have lunch with some business associates and, according to his secretary, he'd left the office on schedule but never arrived at the restaurant.

Though a ransom note had been sent to Imperial Cosmetics the same evening, demanding fifteen million dollar cash to set Baines free, analysis of the handwritten letter had soon proved that it was Paul Baines' own handwriting. These events had made Baines highly suspicious of being involved not only in the synthetic drugs business but also in the cold-blooded murder of two people.

Ever since then Five-0 as well as each available cop on the island searched for Baines but the trail had long gone cold and the man was nowhere to be found.

After endless days with literally no new information, they were all willing to follow every tiny lead they got and so Steve and Danny were on their way to Mrs. Kalili who had been Baines' foster mother for a short period of time almost fifty years ago. It was not really a lead at all, more a desperate attempt to do anything, but since Steve had long wanted to renew his pilot's license he figured that visiting the old lady, who lived alone somewhere in the middle of nowhere at the West coast of Molokai, would be a good opportunity to gather some of the required flying hours.

Five-0 phoned Mrs. Kalili to make an appointment, which she had blatantly refused at first, making clear that she didn't want to receive any visitors, stating that she hadn't seen Baines for at least twenty or twenty-five years. But then, about three hours later, she had called back, changing her mind and inviting Five-0 over to talk to her.

The aircraft in which Steve and Danny came to Molokai was bigger than the small tourist helicopters one could see all over the islands. The Eurocopter EC 145 had room for two pilots and up to nine passengers, the two pilots' seats were divided by a massive center console with more technical instruments than Danny had ever seen in a helicopter, each seat was equipped with equal flight controls, allowing the pilot as well as the copilot to operate the helicopter. Steve actually would have preferred a smaller aircraft but updating his license also required flying bigger helicopters and since one of Chin's many cousins owned the EC 145, a discharged Coast Guard helicopter, Steve took the opportunity and chartered it for the following day, asking Danny if he wanted to join him on the flight to Molokai.

To his surprise Williams immediately agreed happily, unable to suppress the big grin that spread across his face. The next surprise had been Danny waiting for McGarrett exactly on time at 9 o'clock Saturday morning at the small airfield outside of Honolulu. It was not so much the fact that Danny was on time – which he always was – but rather Danny's appearance that astonished Steve deeply.

Instead of his usual dress pants, shirt and leather loafers, Danny wore a blue and white striped polo shirt, a pair of jeans with a brown braided belt and matching brown sneakers. Williams sat lazily on the hood of his silver Camaro, eyes hidden behind sunglasses as he waited for Steve to arrive.

"Oh my God, did something happen?" McGarrett asked smirking, eyeballing Danny's appearance.

"Good morning to you too," Danny replied, fishing for his badge, weapon and Kevlar vest before he locked his car. "You can close your mouth, Steven, you know, that looks a little bit stupid."

"Uh, Danny, seriously, what happened? Why the sudden change in style?" Steve asked, unable to remove his gaze from Danny's outfit.

"Jeez, McGarrett," Danny exclaimed, slightly shaking his head. "It's Saturday and even if we're following a lead – a rather tiny, almost non-existent lead, if I dare say – it's technically our spare time so no need to look extra professional."

Remembering that conversation, Steve smiled slightly as he threw a brief look at his partner, still not fully adapted to Danny's unusual clothing. Then he let his gaze travel once more over the clearing and the little house, but the whole area seemed to be deserted. He was about to open the door and leave the helicopter when Danny's voice pulled him forcefully out of his thoughts, causing him to look back at his partner.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Williams asked frowning, his hands spread in an inquiring gesture.

"Dismounting the helicopter?" Steve offered hesitantly, not really knowing what Danny was up to.

"Steven, please, just for once. Proper police procedure, okay?" Danny said exasperated, looking expectantly at Steve only to be met with a blank look of incomprehension. Sighing, Danny rolled his eyes as he fished his Kevlar vest from behind the seat. He waved it meaningfully in front of Steve's face, "Vest, McGarrett, where's your vest?"

Steve snorted with laughter, "Seriously, Danny? Mrs. Kalili is 81 years old, what do you expect to happen?"

"You obviously never met my Auntie Margery or otherwise you wouldn't joke about 81 year old ladies," Danny replied bleakly.

"Margery?" Steve's gaze suddenly became dreamy. "I knew a Margery once, a nice red-haired, tall and curvy… she was one of the nurses at the Naval Medical Center at Coronado." He blushed slightly, not going unnoticed by Danny who started to grin brightly.

"Look at you," he chuckled. "That seems to be a pretty interesting story. I think Mrs. Kalili can wait a few more minutes. Go ahead, tell me everything about your sexy nurse."

Steve blushed even more as he said, "I don't think it's that interesting…"

"And I think I'll decide that for myself. Come on, no need to be shy," Danny insisted, rubbing his hands with glee.

"Would you buy it if I said it's classified?" Steve asked lamely.

"Oh no, you're not getting away that easily this time," Danny smirked, obviously enjoying Steve's embarrassment. "Go on, I want all the dirty details."

McGarrett fidgeted uneasily in the seat. "You won't let go, will you?"

"Nope, no way," Danny grinned smugly, comfortably leaning back in the seat, folding his hands behind his head. "I've got all the time in the world."

Steve glared at Danny, trying to find a way out of this but he finally figured that Danny wouldn't cave in and better he told the story here than having Danny force him to do it later when the whole team would be around.

"Well, Steven? I'm waiting." Williams pushed on.

"Okay, okay… uh… there was that little incident a few days after finishing BUD/S classes…" Steve started, his ears turning redder and redder the more he said. "And… uh… well, I ended up in the hospital with some injuries…"

"What kind of injuries?" Danny asked curiously.

If possible Steve's ears turned even more red as he replied sheepishly, "Well, let's say, there were body parts involved where you don't want to get touched by male Navy doctors."

Danny grimaced disgustedly, defensively waving his hands through the air, "Oh please, forget that I asked, I really don't need to know about some strange owies on your private parts. I think for once I'll be perfectly happy with the classified label." Williams stared at his partner for a second before he cracked up, laughing so hard that he had to wipe away the tears in his eyes. "Seriously Steven? I think in that case I don't begrudge you your sweet redhead."

A minute later Danny's laughter finally abated and Steve asked grumpily, "Are you done now?"

Danny nodded, chuckling quietly as he noticed that Steve's ears were still flaming red. After another minute he had calmed down enough to take a deep breath. Clapping his hands, he said, "Okay, take your vest, let's go."

"Yeah, alright," Steve agreed swiftly, more than glad to escape the awkward atmosphere.

Both men jumped off the helicopter, slowly walking toward Mrs. Kalili's house, Danny already closing his vest while Steve swung his loosely in his hand. He had obviously overcome the embarrassing episode and regained his good mood; noticing Danny's glare he asked innocently, "Oh, you want me to put it on? You just said, 'take your vest', not 'put it on'."

Danny threw his hands in the air, "What is the matter with you today, you clown? Did you put too much sugar in your coffee this morning?"

Steve grinned at him, still convinced that approaching an 81-year-old lady in full gear was quite the overkill. "Danny, I really don't think it's necessary…" McGarrett started to voice his opinion, but before he was able to finish the sentence, the first of many shots shattered the silence.

**(tbc)**


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you so much for all the reviews and alerts :-)  
>Enjoy the next chapter, I hope I can live up to your expectations...<p>

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><p><strong>Chapter 2:<strong>

The shot echoed loudly over the clearing and Danny watched in horror as McGarrett was get hit, the vest Steve was just about to put on slipping from his hands as he spun around, stumbling backwards.

Only a heartbeat later, before Williams was even able to react, he felt something slam into his ribs and the next thing he knew he was lying on the ground, groaning and gasping for air. Danny didn't hear the next shots over the ringing in his ears, he was only aware that he needed to move quickly.

The helicopter offered the only cover in the large clearing, he just hoped they would make it there in time. Danny laboredly rolled over and struggled to his feet, suppressing a moan at the pain that shot through his chest and abdomen. He stumbled a few steps toward the helicopter, trying not to get hit a second time as he frantically looked around for his partner.

Steve was only a few steps away, also struggling to get to his feet, his vest abandoned on the grass where he'd dropped it when the first shot had been fired. He pressed his right arm against his body, Danny could see bloodstains on McGarrett's T-shirt, but otherwise he seemed to be alright.

"Back to the helicopter," Steve shouted hoarsely as he approached Danny, grabbing his arm they hurried back to the aircraft. "I saw Baines over there at the house, at least three more shooters, all around the clearing," McGarrett said through gritted teeth, his face contorted with pain. "Get in, go, go, go!"

More shots rained down on them from various directions, proving McGarrett's statement about more than one assailant. Danny quickly circled the helicopter, ducking his head to avoid the bullets, metallic noises filled the air when the shots hit the aircraft casing, some of them missing Danny by only a hair's breadth. He jerked open the door, struggling to crawl into the seat.

Barely noticing that Steve had already started the engine as the rotor blades came alive with a buzzing sound, Williams ripped open his vest with trembling hands, trying to take a deep breath that ended in an abrupt moan. "Oh shit, that hurts," Danny cursed, squeezing his eyes shut against the pain from his bruised ribcage.

"You ok?" Steve asked, his voice strained as he pulled the helicopter up into the safety of the sky, away from the clearing.

"Think I cracked a rib or two," Danny replied through gritted teeth. Suddenly remembering the fact that Steve was also hurt, his eyes snapped open and he worriedly scanned his partner. "What about you, you alright?"

McGarrett nodded breathlessly, his gaze fixed on the cockpit instruments, "Just a flesh wound to the arm."

Trying to get a closer look at the gunshot wound, Danny leaned forward, stifling a moan as he wrapped one arm protectively around his midsection to stabilize his ribs. Taking in Steve's rigid posture and the amount of blood dripping from his arm, Danny asked concerned, "Are you sure you're alright? That doesn't look good…"

"It's okay, I've had worse," Steve replied, only briefly looking down at his right arm, the bullet had hit the inside of his upper arm, about halfway between the elbow and the armpit. He pressed the arm against his torso in an attempt to stop the bleeding, his right hand tightly wrapped around the cyclic stick, trembling slightly from the effort to keep the aircraft stable.

"Danny, try to radio the police, tell them what happened," McGarrett said gasping as he turned the helicopter to the right, heading back toward Oahu.

Danny nodded, putting on the headphones, immediately starting to play around with the radio controls. Steve could hear him shouting into the microphone but since he hadn't been able to put on his own headphones he didn't know if there was an answer.

McGarrett looked out of the window, a few minutes later he could already make out Oahu on the horizon, he estimated that they had covered approximately one quarter of the distance. Only belatedly it occurred to him that the Molokai airport probably would have been a lot closer but now it wouldn't make sense to return.

Steve sucked in air, suddenly finding it very difficult to concentrate on his surroundings, he was only marginally aware that Danny was talking to him and though he heard Danny's voice he couldn't make out any words. As a wave of dizziness washed over him, he had to blink a few times to clear his vision. McGarrett frowned slightly, what the hell was wrong with him?

Looking down, he was astonished to see that his whole T-shirt and part of his pants were soaked with blood. Very carefully he lifted his right arm, trying to see what damage the bullet had caused. For a few moments he just stared, trying to understand what the stream of blood meant that poured out of the wound, rising and ebbing in unison with his heartbeat, before Danny's voice finally pulled him out of his trance.

"Did you hear what I said?" Williams asked tetchily, still fiddling with the radio controls. "I don't think the radio's working. I've tried every single channel and frequency but all I got is random noise."

Wiping the sweat from his forehead with trembling fingers, Steve feverishly looked around, searching for something he could use for a tourniquet.

"Danny," McGarrett said breathlessly, cursing how weak his voice sounded. "Danny, give me your belt and then I need you to take over the controls."

"What?" Danny finally looked up, stripping off the useless headphones in one swift move.

"Take over the controls, now," Steve exclaimed weakly as his hand slipped off the controls, causing the aircraft to lurch dangerously to the right.

"What the hell…" Danny cursed anxiously as he gripped the cyclic stick, desperately trying not to lose control over the helicopter.

"Give me your belt," Steve repeated faintly, digging his left thumb between the muscles of his right upper arm, directly above the gunshot wound, in an attempt to squeeze shut the artery. Taking a deep breath, he tried unsuccessfully to slow down his breathing. "Hurry up, I don't know how long I'll be able to apply pressure." Steve's fingers trembled violently as he blinked away the sweat that ran into his eyes.

"Damn, McGarrett, can't let you out of sight for two seconds, what the hell is wrong with you? Just a flesh wound, huh? You stubborn idiot, why didn't you say something before?" Danny ranted, but he was not able to hide the fear and worry in his voice as he took in his partner's appearance, Steve's face had lost all its color, sweat stood upon his brow and his breathing was fast and labored.

With some difficulty, Williams finally managed to remove his belt with one hand, the other one clawed around the cyclic stick. He fumbled the belt into a loop so that Steve would just have to slip it onto his arm, tossing the makeshift tourniquet carefully into McGarrett's lap. Danny hoped Steve would be able to put on and tighten the belt on his own because Williams had no real chance of reaching him across the center console while he had to handle the controls.

Danny watched worriedly how Steve clumsily slipped the sling over his hand, trying to push it up to his upper arm. He needed three attempts before he was able to place the tourniquet at the right position and tightened it.

Grimacing from exhaustion and pain Steve closed his eyes, letting out a shaky breath as he leaned back into the seat, trying to get rid of the dizziness, but Danny's voice didn't allow him to take a rest.

"Pull tighter," Williams ordered, noticing that there was still a considerable amount of blood dripping from the wound. "You're still bleeding."

Glaring halfheartedly at his partner, McGarrett unsteadily raised his left hand, weakly clasping the end of the belt, but his blood-covered fingers ineffectively slipped off as soon as he started to pull.

"I can't," Steve finally exhaled through gritted teeth after the fourth or fifth unsuccessful attempt.

"Dammit, McGarrett, you can and you will! Pull tighter!" Danny exclaimed furiously. "Listen, I'd try to reach over and help, but I can't let go the controls. I won't be of much help, you have to do the main part by yourself. Do it now, Steve, pull tighter, you have to stop the bleeding."

"Yeah, alright… no… no need to shout," Steve whispered, wiping his bloodstained hand on his pants before he once more gripped the end of the belt, pulling with all his might.

"That's good, just a little bit more. Come on, Steve, you can do it," Danny encouraged, relieved when he saw Steve follow his orders. Williams bent over to the right as far as he was able while operating the helicopter. As he'd already feared he could barely get a good grip on the belt to help Steve torque it, but he found that his hand above Steve's hand seemed to have at least some psychological effect. Danny noticed that Steve gathered all of his remaining strength, finally managing to tighten the tourniquet enough to minimize the bleeding.

"Enough?" McGarrett asked breathlessly after a few moments, his voice barely audible over the noise of the helicopter.

Though there was still blood dripping from the wound, it was no longer the uncontrollable flow from before; Danny nodded, that had to be sufficient for now, "Hey man, you did good, okay? It's working, you did it."

Steve's hand dropped to his lap, his whole body trembling while a cold sweat ran down his face.

"You okay?" Danny knew it was a stupid question right now, obviously McGarrett was far from okay. He asked anyway, he needed to hear Steve's affirmation that he would be alright, but Steve just shook his head, and that little gesture unsettled Danny more than he would admit. Noticing Steve's fast and labored breaths, he said, "Hang on, okay? We're almost there, I can already see Oahu. Perhaps fifteen, twenty minutes…"

In reality, Danny had no idea how long it would take them to return to the small airfield from which they had taken off this morning. He hoped it would be quicker but he supposed that his estimation was about right.

"Do you hear me? Hang on, okay, buddy?" Danny threw a concerned look at his partner. "Steve? You still with me?"

McGarrett nodded weakly, ineffectively trying to take deeper, calmer breaths. "Listen Danny, about landing the helicopter," he said after a few moments, panting for air. "You have to…"

"I don't want to hear this, Steve, you'll land the damn thing," Danny interrupted him, anger and fear evident in his voice.

But Steve knew his body and his limits well enough to tell that he soon wouldn't be able to do anything at all in his current shape, and the last thing he needed to make sure before he lost consciousness was to explain to Danny how to bring down the helicopter. He knew damn well that safely landing a helicopter was an almost impossible task for someone who'd never done it before, but with a little advice and a huge portion of luck, hopefully Danny would be able to at least prevent a fatal crash.

"Danny, shut up and listen. It's important…" Steve gasped, his hands trembling in his lap. "I don't… I don't know how much longer I can stay awake."

"No, no, no, McGarrett, you have to stay awake, you're not allowed to pass out!" Danny exclaimed, vigorously shaking his head. "Do you hear me? Do. Not. Pass. Out!"

Steve bluntly ignored Danny's objection, no longer having the strength to argue with his partner, the edges of his vision already dangerously graying. He blinked sluggishly as he went on, "Listen Danny, make sure the nose of the helicopter is always slightly below the horizon during everything you do." He spoke hastily, making only short breaks to draw breath. "Try landing the helicopter like you would a plane, do you understand? Just skid down the runway. Don't try to hover, okay? Always keep the nose slightly below the horizon, that's important…" Steve's voice trailed off, he couldn't prevent his eyelids from drooping, the noise of his blood rushing in his ears drowned out every other sound.

A slap on his left shoulder jolted him briefly back to awareness and he slowly turned his head to the left, blinking tiredly against his blurry vision. He hated the expression on Danny's face, the fear and worry he was seeing in those blue eyes but there was nothing he could do about it right now.

"Steve, stay awake, I can't do this alone," Danny said as he squeezed McGarrett's left thigh, a hint of panic arising in his voice. "Hey, come on, I need you… Steve, no… please, Steve…"

Steve blinked drowsily, his gaze unsteady. "Sorry," he offered in a low whisper, smiling slightly before his eyes closed and his head lolled to his chest.

**(tbc)**


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you so much for all the alerts, favorites and for your nice reviews. You really make my day! :-)

Just another short note to let you know that the story is complete by now, so there will be regular updates... hope you enjoy the next chapter.

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><p><strong>Chapter 3:<strong>

Danny's heart hammered painfully in his chest, he swallowed convulsively, trying to keep the panic at bay. His hand was clawed around the cyclic stick, visibly trembling, but somehow he managed to keep control over the helicopter.

_Buck up, Williams_, he reprimanded himself, taking several deep breaths. _You've done this before, you know how to fly, no need to panic_, he told himself over and over again.

Danny took another deep breath, trying to calm his frayed nerves, finally feeling a tiny bit of self-confidence return. He could do this. He had done this before, he had flown a helicopter. Well, not exactly with an unconscious partner in the pilot's seat, who was bleeding all over the place, but he knew how to fly. He was sure he could do this.

After what seemed like an eternity he noticed that his fingers no longer trembled and he sighed shakily, wiping his sweaty hands on his pants.

Good, now that Danny was reasonably confident that they weren't in immediate danger of crashing into the ocean he could turn his attention back to the most important task at hand, attending to Steve.

He threw a concerned look to the right where McGarrett hung limply in his seat, only the safety belt prevented him from slipping down any further. Danny had tried to wake him up after Steve passed out, but no amount of shouting, slapping or shaking on Danny's part had done any good, Steve remained unconscious.

If possible, Steve was even paler than before, his complexion waxen. The pallor of his skin worried Danny deeply, but after pressing his shaky fingers against Steve's neck, he was relieved to find a pulse, even if it was weak and much too fast for Danny's liking.

Williams leaned forward and watched the tourniquet on Steve's arm, it seemed to work alright for the moment, the gunshot wound had almost completely stopped bleeding. But Danny struggled to swallow down another onslaught of panic when he took in the amount of blood that had soaked in to Steve's clothes. He gritted his teeth, McGarrett needed professional help, quickly, but there was nothing more Danny could do at the moment.

Reluctantly he averted his gaze from his partner, staring out the window. Oahu was now clearly visible, not much longer and they would finally reach their goal. He pulled the cyclic stick a little to the right, if his memory didn't fail him the new course should lead them directly to the small airfield where they took off not long ago.

Danny looked at the cockpit controls, heaving a frustrated sigh when his gaze fell on the radio. He chewed on his lower lip, thinking for a moment about his next actions. There was no way that he was able to bring the radio back to life, one of Baines' bullets had probably destroyed the antenna.

God, how he hated Hawaii, these pineapple-infested pieces of lava in the middle of the ocean. Only here one had to use a helicopter to reach the next county. Normal people in normal states traveled by car, but no, in Hawaii it had to be a damn helicopter. Danny swore that he would never ever again complain about Steve's driving style if they just would survive the day.

Danny furrowed his brow, flying the helicopter suddenly felt different than a few moments ago, with every passing second it was becoming harder and harder to keep it straight. Williams glanced anxiously at the cockpit controls but as far as he could judge from his limited knowledge everything seemed to be fine.

Though Danny preferred to have both hands on the controls right now, he knew that time was slowly running out. He needed to call for help, so he clumsily fumbled his cell phone out of his pocket, praying silently that there would be enough reception in the air, somewhere in no man's land between Molokai and Oahu.

Danny breathed in deeply before he threw a look on the display, almost laughing out hysterically when he was greeted with one or two flickering bars. It was not great but it had to be sufficient for now. Swiftly he pressed a few buttons, putting on the speakers, carefully placing the cell phone in his lap.

"Whoa, shit!" Danny yelled when a gust of wind hit the aircraft, causing it to tilt over to the left. He gripped the cyclic stick tighter, barely managing to get the helicopter back on course. Great, a storm, that's exactly what he needed right now.

His chest felt suddenly too narrow for his frantically beating heart and his injured ribs throbbed painfully with every heartbeat. Sweat ran down his back, making his T-shirt stick to his skin, the blood rushed so loudly in his ears that he almost missed the voice coming from his cell phone.

"Kelly."

"Chin?" Danny asked hoarsely, briefly closing his eyes with relief as he exhaled shakily. He cleared his throat before he shouted over the noise of the helicopter, "Chin? It was a trap. Do you hear me? It was a trap, Baines was there, you need to send a SWAT team as soon as possible."

"Hey, slow down, brah, I don't understand a word you're saying." Chin's voice came surprisingly clear out of the speaker. "What happened? Where are you?"

"We're on our way back to Oahu. It was a trap, Chin," Danny repeated hectically. "When we arrived at Mrs. Kalili's, Baines and some other guys were already there, they immediately opened fire. You need to send a SWAT team there, perhaps he's still around and they're able to catch him."

Whatever Chin had been doing on his spare Saturday when Danny's call reached him, he was enough of a professional to assess the situation in the blink of an eye. "Okay, understood, I'll arrange for that," he said matter-of-factly. Leaving Williams no time to interrupt, he swiftly added, "What else do you need, Danny?"

"I need you to have an ambulance waiting at the airfield where we took off this morning," the younger man replied immediately.

Danny clearly heard the concern in Chin's voice when he asked, "What happened? Are you alright? Is Steve alright?"

"I'm okay, I took a shot to the vest, maybe a cracked rib. But Steve…" Danny took a deep breath, glancing briefly at his partner before he continued, "he's not doing well. Chin, I think it's really bad. He took a shot to the arm, probably nicked an artery. He was barely able to apply a tourniquet before he passed out and I couldn't help him properly because there are so many instruments in this blasted helicopter, I just couldn't reach over. Chin, you need to make sure that the ambulance is there and that they have enough blood in store. God, he lost so much blood…" Williams struggled to swallow down his emotions.

The short delay in Kelly's reply didn't go unnoticed by Danny, telling him that his teammate was also deeply affected by the unexpected and unwelcome news. "I hear you, Danny, don't worry, I'll make sure everything is prepared when you arrive."

Danny nodded; he was aware that this was a useless gesture, but at the moment he simply didn't trust his voice enough to talk.

There was another short break before Chin asked cautiously, "Danny? If Steve is unconscious, then who is flying the helicopter? Is someone else with you?"

"I'm flying the damned thing. Chin, I can fly it but I have no idea how to land. I need someone who'll tell me what to do." Danny was suddenly unable to banish the fear from his voice, now that he had spoken it out, he truly realized for the first time the situation he was in.

"Shit, Danny," Chin exclaimed, but quickly finding his normal, placid voice. "Okay, brah, stay calm, I'm sure you're doing good, okay?"

"Chin, you know how to fly, you can tell me what to do," Danny pleaded. "Just tell me what I should do…"

"I know how to fly, Danny, but I'm no flight instructor," Chin encountered helplessly. "Hey, listen, let me call a friend, he'll be able to give you advice and help you land the helicopter. I'll call him and tell him to radio you immediately…"

"No, the radio's not working," Williams interrupted. "Baines shot at the helicopter, I think he hit the antenna or something. Chin, I can already see Oahu, I'm not sure but I think we're slowly running out of fuel. Besides, it's bloody windy up here, I'm really having problems keeping control over the helicopter." Danny's stomach cramped painfully and a cold shiver ran through his body. Unable to channel his feelings any longer, he shouted, "I fucking need you to tell me what I have to do, okay?"

"Okay, Danny, I hear you, but you have to stay calm. We'll manage this," Chin said slowly, trying to soothe the situation. "You'll manage."

Hearing Kelly's calm voice, Danny felt sorry, he knew he was unfair to Chin, but to tell the truth, he was just so damn scared, more scared than ever before in his life.

But fear wouldn't help him land the helicopter…

Danny knew that he only had one try to bring them down safely and the least he could do was make sure that his concentration was not stunted by his fears. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to take several deep breaths, trying to stow away all his doubts and fears in the darkest corner of his mind.

"Chin?" Danny asked quietly a few moments later. "Listen man, I'm sorry. I know it's not your fault we're in this fricking situation, it's just…" He swallowed, leaving the rest of the sentence trail off. Taking another deep breath, he said, "It would be great if you could call your friend, I need all the support I can get."

"It's alright, brah," Chin reassured him. "I already contacted him, he's on his way to the airfield right now. He'll call you as soon as we stop speaking, okay?"

"Thank you," Williams replied gratefully. His fears were still present, but he managed to lock them up, all he felt was sympathy and concern for his partner as he added quietly, "Chin? Make sure the ambulance is waiting, okay? I'm really worried about Steve, he's lost a lot of blood…"

Danny never knew if it was another gust of wind or if he made an involuntary movement, but suddenly the helicopter tilted to one side, causing the cell phone to slid from his lap, skidding unstoppably to the far end of the cockpit.

"Nonono… shit," Danny hissed through gritted teeth, carefully pulling the cyclic stick to the left.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the aircraft react to his input only a few moments later. Danny licked his lips, trying to remember at least some of the things his former colleague Bruce told him about airstreams, atmospheric conditions and crosswinds but after a while he gloomily shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, can't be worse a few feet further down and besides, we'll have to decrease in altitude if we want to land anytime soon…" Danny murmured to himself, turning his head to the right, glancing at his unconscious partner. "Do you agree with me?"

But as expected there was no answer, McGarrett still hung limply in his seat; Danny took the time to reassure himself, just watching Steve's chest rise and fall for a few moments. "I take that as a 'yes'," he finally said, holding his breath as he pushed the collective stick down a little.

Once he was satisfied with the new altitude, Danny looked around until he found his phone, leaning forward as far as he was able without losing his grip on the controls. His mistreated ribs protested painfully, he only narrowly managed to suppress a moan, but his effort was to no avail, the cell phone was just outside of his reach.

"Bloody hell," Williams cursed furiously, desperately trying to suppress the panic that again arose inside him. He wasn't sure if the situation could possibly get worse, but considering his luck he wouldn't be surprised about some other fancy twists of fate in the near future.

Once more he threw a look at his partner, but soon dismissed the idea of using Steve's cell phone. He knew that McGarrett usually kept his iPhone in one of his right pockets, but there was no way Danny could reach them while he had to handle the aircraft controls.

Danny swallowed forcefully, he knew that he had no other choice than try to land the damn helicopter alone. Sure, he could wait for Steve to wake up but a look at McGarrett's prone form told him that this wasn't going to happen anytime soon. A glance at the cockpit displays confirmed his assumption that they would more than likely run out of fuel before long.

_Well, the less fuel the smaller the explosion will be when we crash,_ Danny thought sarcastically. He nodded apologetically toward Steve, a wry smile on his lips, "You crazy SEAL would probably prefer a much bigger explosion. I'm sorry to disappoint you and spoil all the fun."

Heaving a deep sigh, Danny skeptically glanced at his cell phone. It lay face down on the floor, so he couldn't tell if he was still on the line with Chin or if the device was even working, but it was important that Chin knew what would happen. Danny took a deep breath and shouted over the noise of the helicopter, hoping that Kelly would be able to hear him, "Chin, listen, the phone fell down, I'm not able to reach it, so I'll try to land the helicopter on my own. I can already see the airfield, we'll reach it in a few minutes."

Danny cocked his head, he thought he heard a sound from his phone, but he wasn't sure, perhaps he just imagined it. He shrugged his shoulders and after a brief thought, he added, "Thanks for your help, my friend." Williams smiled sadly, hoping that this wouldn't be his last words for Chin.

He pushed the collective stick further down, and the helicopter smoothly went into a gentle descent. A short time later Danny could clearly see the small airfield with the numerous little hangars in front of him, his jaw dropped when he took in the scenery. He had no idea how Chin managed to organize all the stuff in that short amount of time since Danny called him, but obviously Kelly had been more than busy.

Seeing the amount of vehicles – Danny counted no less than two ambulances and three fire trucks next to the runway – didn't help at all to calm his nerves. On the contrary, it just proved that the situation was at least as bad as he thought.

He exhaled a shaky breath, retightening his grip on the aircraft controls. Briefly glancing at his partner, he said sarcastically, "Well, Steve, looks like I'm not the only one who doubts that I'm able to safely land the helicopter."

Cautiously reducing the speed of the helicopter Danny set course for the runway, but just a few moments later he sensed that this first approach was no good. "No, no, no, this is not working," Danny chastised himself, slightly shaking his head. "We're still too fast and too high."

Clearly remembering Steve's advice, he didn't try to hover the helicopter but gently pulled the cyclic to the right, sending the aircraft on a big circle. He prayed that his next attempt of landing would be more successful, but if Danny was honest that delay came in quite handy, he wasn't keen on crashing.

Noticing that his hands had started trembling again, Danny took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. "You know, Steve, now would be the perfect time to wake up," he said, not really expecting a response from his partner.

"Oh, and just for the record, I blame the whole situation on you. If you had worn your vest, we never had gotten into this predicament," Williams started to rant.

Without looking at his partner, he went on, perfectly imitating Steve's voice and tone, "I was hit on the arm, Danno, what use would a vest actually would have been?"

"Yeah, okay, for once you're right, McGarrett," Danny conceded grumpily. "But I'm just admitting that because you're unconscious and won't remember a word I'm saying."

Danny looked out of the window, estimating the distance to the airfield, before he once more carefully operated the controls, causing the helicopter to decrease in speed as well as in altitude. "Always keep the nose slightly below the horizon," he murmured, repeating Steve's earlier advice as he approached the runway.

He heaved a deep-drawn sigh, ignoring the pain from his busted ribs. Danny was no fool, he knew that his actions in the next few minutes would make the difference between life and death. But how the hell was he supposed to land a helicopter? He quite simply didn't have a clue what to do and he was scared right to the core about that fact.

Danny's gaze fell on his cell phone down on the floor and his heart wrenched painfully, he wished nothing more than being able to talk to Gracie or at least send her a text message, letting her know what she meant to him. He briefly closed his eyes, conjuring up an image of his daughter. "Danno loves you," he whispered, struggling to get rid of his emotions.

The runway came nearer and nearer, only a few more seconds before they would touch down and once more Williams reduced the speed until he had the feeling they were finally slow enough to attempt a reasonably safe landing.

He turned his head toward the right and his heart stopped for a second when he noticed that the tourniquet on Steve's arm wasn't doing its work anymore. Danny didn't know if it had slipped down or became loose somehow, but it really didn't matter at the moment, because there was not a single thing he could do right now. He gritted his teeth, swallowing down the curse that was on the tip of his tongue.

"Hang on, Steve, okay? Just a few more moments, you need to hang on just a few more moments," Danny begged hoarsely, licking his dry lips.

Throwing one last look at Steve's slack, pale face before he turned his attention back to the imminent landing, Williams smiled wryly. "It was an honor to serve with you, Commander," he said mockingly but everyone who knew Danny would never miss the hint of seriousness in his voice.

"Okay, here we go…" Danny exhaled and with a final deep breath he banned all the distracting images from his mind, all images of Grace, of Steve and the team, of his family, of everyone and everything he loved and cherished, completely and utterly concentrating on the task at hand.

There was no way back now.

Danny didn't look left or right, he didn't want to see all the people waiting for him to crash, or all the emergency vehicles, he just fixed his gaze on the horizon and on the runway. He was proud that he really managed to keep the nose of the helicopter slightly below the horizon just as Steve told him even if his instincts screamed to pull up the cyclic stick.

They almost reached ground level when the helicopter slightly turned to the right. Using the pedals, Williams desperately tried to keep the nose pointed forward but before the aircraft could react, the skids made contact with the runway and Danny was thrown forward in his seat, somehow maintaining his grip on the controls.

Like a giant rubber ball the EC 145 bounced back into the air, crashing down on the asphalt a second time when Danny moved down the collective stick. The entire helicopter veered off further to the right as it skidded down the runway in a frightening speed.

Danny slammed his left foot on the pedal to bring the aircraft back on course, but it was too late. The helicopter tilted over to the left and the next moment a cascade of impressions poured down on Danny.

A deafening noise when the rotor blades dug into the runway…

… a metallic screeching that set his teeth on edge…

… splinters of glass all around him…

… a sharp pain in his neck and back when his head was jerked to one side…

… and then – nothing.

**(tbc)**


	4. Chapter 4

Again, thank you so much for all the reviews, alerts and favorites - I truly feel honored about all your nice reviews and I'm glad that you're enjoying the story :-)

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><p><strong>Chapter 4:<strong>

Danny's return to consciousness was as abrupt as his entry into unconsciousness had been.

The first thing he knew was a stabbing pain, spreading from his neck to the back of his skull and all the way down his spine, immediately followed by the realization that he was unable to move his head.

Jerking to awareness, his eyes snapped wide open.

His breath hitched when the bright light of the room sent an almost unbearable wave of pain through his head. Squeezing his eyes shut, Williams bit his lower lip in a vain attempt to suppress the piteous whimper that tore from his throat.

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy, brah."

Danny felt a touch on his arm, a hand gently closed around his right biceps, grounding him until the pain finally reduced to a more tolerable level and his ragged breaths calmed down. Gritting his teeth, he swallowed convulsively against the rising nausea, solely concentrating on breathing deeply in and out.

Once he was reasonably sure that his stomach wouldn't try to play any more funny games, Danny ignored the jack-hammer in his head and very carefully opened his eyes, looking directly into Kono's worried face.

Briefly tightening her grip on his arm, Kono forced a smile onto her lips, "Hey Danny, it's good to see you. How do you feel?"

Danny narrowed his eyes, it was difficult to tell over the all-consuming pounding behind his eyes but something in her voice sounded strange. Panic welled up inside him when he tried to look around the room but as before he was simply unable to turn his head. His breath caught in his throat, the fingers of his left hand twitched involuntarily, the movement sent a spike of pain through his hand and along his arm.

"Kono?" Danny moaned hoarsely. "I can't move my head… why can I not move my head?"

"Easy, Danny, everything's alright, okay?" Kono quickly reassured him, her hand soothingly rubbing up and down his right arm. "You're wearing a cervical collar, but it's just to ease the pain from the whiplash you sustained. You'll be alright, do you understand? Everything gonna be alright."

Danny furrowed his brow but finally the meaning of Kono's words sank in and he took a deep breath, briefly closing his eyes.

"What else?" he rasped, not bothering to utter a complete sentence, to his relief Kono seemed to understand his question.

"Apart from the severe whiplash, you have two cracked and one broken rib, probably from the shot you took to the vest, a sprained wrist, two broken fingers," Kono pointed at the splints that immobilized Danny's left pinky and ring finger, "and some nasty cuts and bruises."

"All things considered, you were really, really lucky, brah," the young woman said quietly, once more gently squeezing Danny's arm before she removed her hand.

"Don't feel so lucky," Danny mumbled, grimacing with pain, the bright light stung in his eyes and he blinked rapidly against the dull throbbing in his head.

He had trouble thinking straight but something felt weird, he was sure that he'd missed something, he just couldn't wrap his mind around it…

Suddenly his eyes went wide and Williams grabbed Kono's wrist with his right hand, not caring about the white-hot pain that shot through his whole body.

"Steve?" he merely croaked out the word, his eyes fixed on Kono's face, searching for any hints about McGarrett's condition.

Kono's eyes darkened with sympathy as she placed her hand on top of Danny's hand; absentmindedly Danny noticed how cold her fingers felt against his skin as he impatiently waited for her to answer. "Kono?" he whispered a few moments later, his heart skipping a beat when he saw the look on her face.

"I… I don't know, Danny," she answered falteringly. "All I know is that he was admitted just about half an hour ago and that he's in surgery right now. Chin's upstairs, waiting for any news…" Her voice trailed off and Danny saw how she swallowed heavily.

"What…" Danny frowned in confusion, unable to clearly voice his thoughts. "But… how long…" He had no idea how much time had passed since their 'landing', but if he had been tended to, there must have been quite some time gone by, right? He was lying in a private room, his fingers were splinted and he could feel the tight bandage around his ribcage, all that didn't happen in the blink of an eye. But then why on earth had Steve just been brought in mere minutes ago?

Heaving a sigh, Kono warily unwrapped Danny's finger from her wrist, guiding his hand back onto the sheets before she stepped back from the bed. Nervously pacing the room, she ran both hands through her hair, desperately searching for the right words.

Since Danny was unable to move his head, his eyes followed her every movement until she finally stopped at the foot of the bed. Resting her hands on the bed rail, Kono returned Danny's gaze and explained, "The crash was only about three hours ago, but it took more than one hour to pull you from the wreckage."

"One hour?" Danny interrupted her unbelievingly.

Smiling unhappily, Kono replied, "The helicopter overturned before it crashed into one of the buildings, it was just bad luck that of all possible directions it just went directly toward that hangar. The firefighters had a hard time getting you out of there, but they finally succeeded and you were brought here."

"And Steve?" Williams asked, his voice pressing and hesitant at the same time. He saw Kono's knuckles turn white as she tightened her grip around the bed rail, the tiny gesture sucked out all his meager strength, leaving behind only a bone-crushing exhaustion. "Kono, please, what happened?" Danny whispered hoarsely.

Two small wrinkles appeared between Kono's brows, she tightly pressed her lips together for a second before she replied, "Once you were rescued I accompanied you to the hospital; I just know what happened afterwards because Chin told me about it when he came in a short while ago. But what I do know is that it took even longer to free Steve, they were still working on him when we left the scene." She interrupted herself, taking a deep shuddering breath before she continued, her voice slightly wavering, "Danny, he… he stopped breathing. Luckily there was just enough space in and around the wreckage for two of the paramedics to squeeze their way through to him. I don't know how they did it but somehow they managed to intubate him. We couldn't see what was happening but we heard them demanding one blood bag after another…"

Danny stared at her wide-eyed, his mind slowly processing her words. His heart constricted painfully when he thought back to the time in the helicopter, remembering the makeshift tourniquet and the amount of blood on Steve's clothes. He saw Kono's lips quiver as she took another deep breath, trying to compose herself, "Chin told me they needed almost another forty-five minutes to get Steve out of the wreckage after we were gone and then another twenty minutes to stabilize him for the transport to the hospital."

A single tear ran down Kono's cheek, averting her eyes from Danny, she angrily wiped it away with the back of her hand. Seeing the distress she was in, Williams immediately pushed all of his own pain and worry for his partner to the back of his mind.

"Hey… hey, it's okay. Come here," Danny said soothingly, gingerly raising his right arm.

Kono slightly shook her head, the movement barely visible, as she pressed her palms against her eyes. "I'm okay, it's just…" she said embarrassedly, vigorously rubbing the tears from her face.

"Come here," Danny repeated a bit more firmly, carefully waving his hand. "I could use a hug too, you know?" He flashed her a smile, motioning her to step closer.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me," Kono whispered as she sat down at the edge of the bed. She leaned forward until she could rest her head on Danny's shoulder, her arm lightly placed across his chest. "You know that I usually don't cry this easily, but… but seeing the two of you there in that wreckage, seeing the helicopter crash into that hangar…" Her voice trailed off and Danny felt the small shiver that ran through her body.

"You saw the crash? You were there?" he asked surprised, gently patting her back with his uninjured hand despite the pain the movement caused.

Kono nodded against his shoulder, "I was with Chin at headquarters this morning. Once you called, we directly set off for the airfield. We arrived only a few moments before you came in." She kept silent for a few moments before she hesitantly continued, her voice low and tremulous, "It was terrible, I've never seen a helicopter crash and knowing that you and Steve were in there…" Another shiver shook her slender frame, much stronger than the last one.

"Ssssh, I'm sure everything will be alright, okay? I'm fine and Steve's a fighter, he will be alright," Danny said, not only to soothe the young woman next to him but also to restore his own peace of mind. "I know he'll be alright."

A few minutes passed with neither of them saying a word, they just bathed in each other's company until Danny's pain resurfaced and slowly became overwhelming. Squeezing his eyes shut against the agony in his body he tried desperately to keep his breathing deep and smooth.

"Kono," Williams finally moaned weakly. "I need…"

"Oh God, Danny, I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" Noticing the change in Danny's condition, Kono immediately jumped up." I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," she exclaimed, throwing a concerned look at her teammate who pressed one arm against his abdomen.

Danny tried to shake his head but the cervical collar prevented every such movement. "I need to sit up," he said urgently, returning her gaze. "Think I'm gonna be sick…"

Kono reacted promptly, in one swift move she not only pinched the call button and adjusted the bed for Danny to sit up but also pressed a bowl in his hands, steadying his trembling fingers with her own. Waiting impatiently for the nurse to arrive, Kono watched in macabre fascination how Danny's pale complexion slowly changed to a sickening green.

Slightly dizzy from the sudden change in position, Williams closed his eyes, his lips firmly pressed together as he tried to breathe slowly and deeply. His stomach clenched painfully and he swallowed convulsively against the bile in his throat, the last time he'd thrown up had been more than fifteen years ago and he would be damned if he broke this streak.

"Detective Williams?" Danny slightly flinched when he felt a touch on his arm, he didn't notice someone enter the room. "I'm Nurse Betsy. Can you tell me how you feel?"

Without opening his eyes, Danny whispered through clenched teeth, "Queasy."

"That's to be expected, nausea is a well-known side effect of the pain meds," Betsy nodded sympathetically as she produced a syringe out of her pocket. "I'll give you an antiemetic, that should make you feel better in no time."

Cautiously opening his eyes, Danny watched Betsy insert the contents of the syringe into the catheter on his left arm; he frowned slightly, he just noticed for the first time that he was actually hooked to an IV line.

"Thanks," Williams murmured gratefully, looking up to catch her gaze. His heart skipped a beat when he took in her appearance, her shining red hair remembered him of the conversation he had with Steve earlier that day. Was it really just a few hours ago when they joked about red-haired nurses?

"You're welcome," Betsy replied with a little smile, gently patting his shoulder. Shifting her gaze to Kono, she added, "Call me if there's no change in the next ten minutes."

"I will," Kono answered, "Mahalo." Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Kono watched the nurse quietly leave the room before she looked back at Danny, whose eyes were again closed, his hands clawed around the bowl that Kono had handed him earlier, his complexion still held a hint of green.

Kono wished she could do more than just soothingly rubbing Danny's arm but minute after minute passed without improvement and she watched helplessly how Danny's condition worsened, his breathing now fast and shallow. He laboredly swallowed every few seconds, his lips tightly pressed together.

After seven minutes of watching Danny's torment, Kono finally decided that enough was enough. Leaning forward, she forcefully pressed the call button, gently squeezing Danny's biceps, "Hold on, brah, I just called for the nurse, I'm sure you'll feel better soon."

Impatiently observing the door, Kono stood up as soon as she saw the door handle move only a few moments later. Nurse Betsy came in, followed by a tall, middle-aged Hawaiian doctor, his grayish hair and the rimless glasses gave him a serious appearance but the mischievous sparkle in his eyes made Kono immediately feel comfortable around him.

"Detective Williams, do you feel any better?" Betsy asked, gently grabbing Danny's right wrist to feel his pulse.

Danny really began to hate that damned cervical collar, he definitely wasn't up to answer right now but he had no other choice. Unable to shake his head, he breathed out a whimpered, "No." That uncharacteristically short answer told Kono that her teammate must feel terrible, but obviously the doctor also wasn't too happy about Danny's condition either.

"Detective Williams? My name is Mano Alakika, I'm your attending doctor." His voice was quiet and kind when he explained, "As Nurse Betsy told you earlier, the nausea you're suffering from is a well-known side effect of the pain medication you were given to ease the pain from your injuries. Usually the antiemetic has worked by now and the nausea should have abated. It's very uncommon but we do sometimes have patients who don't respond to the antiemetic at all." Dr. Alakika made a short pause, resting his hand on Danny's shoulder as he asked, "Do you understand what I'm trying to tell, Detective?"

Danny took a deep breath before he slowly opened his eyes. Glaring defeated at his doctor, Williams answered sarcastically, "Yeah, seems like I'm one of those lucky guys."

The ghost of a smile appeared on Dr. Alakika's face. "It's good to see that you haven't lost your humor." Briefly squeezing Danny's shoulder, he continued, "We have two possibilities; you can either stay hooked to the pain meds and suffer the nausea or we can stop the medication completely. I'm sorry that there's no other option at the moment, but before you decide what you want to do let me tell you one more thing. I know that, despite the meds, you're in pain right now, I have to warn you; without the pain medication, it's inevitable that the pain gets even worse."

Danny stared at Dr. Alakika, almost laughing out loud, the man obviously had no idea what he was talking about, because Danny couldn't imagine that he could possibly hurt more than now, these pain killers didn't do any good at all. "Can't be worse than now," he said through clenched teeth, gesturing toward his left arm. "Take it off."

Seeing the short nod from Dr. Alakika, Betsy immediately started to close down the IV line, removing the tube but leaving the catheter in place for future use.

"Try to sleep for a while," the doctor advised, heading for the door. "If the pain becomes too bad, call the nurse, she'll get you something to help you sleep."

Already feeling a tiny bit better, Danny defensively waved his hand, "It's okay, I can handle the pain, I just cannot stand the feeling of being sick."

Dr. Alakika had just opened the door when Danny stopped him, asking, "Doc? Do you have any news about Commander McGarrett?"

"No, I'm sorry, Detective," the older man answered, an apologetic smile on his lips. "As far as I'm aware he's still in surgery and given his injuries, I'm pretty sure that it'll take at least another two or three hours. I'll make sure someone gets back to you as soon as there is any news."

"Thanks, doc," Williams said exhaustedly, letting let his head sink on the pillow, disappointed about the lack of information but for the moment just glad about the fact that the nausea was slowly but surely abating. After one last tired smile in Kono's direction he closed his eyes, trying to follow Dr. Alakika's advice.

But sleep wouldn't come and half an hour later, Danny wasn't so sure anymore if he really could handle the pain. He hurt everywhere, his head, his ribs, his back, his hand; it hurt to breathe, it hurt to sit, it even hurt to lay still. He didn't know if it was better to sit up or lie down and after having bothered Kono a few times to adjust the bed he just remained sitting, it didn't make any difference.

Danny drifted in and out of sleep, vehemently dismissing each of Kono's offers to call the nurse. They still hadn't heard from Steve and there was no way Danny would accept getting sedated without knowing about his partner's condition.

Kono did her best to distract Danny from the pain he was in, but her efforts became more and more futile the more time went by. She watched Danny's stiff posture, his pale complexion, the deep lines on his forehead, his tight jaw and just as she was about to overrule his wishes and call for help, the door opened and her cousin walked into the room.

Chin looked as tired as Kono felt, he gave her a quick hug before he addressed Danny, "Good to see you awake, brah. How do you feel?"

"Been better," Danny admitted, wiping the sweat from his forehead with slightly trembling fingers. He locked eyes with Chin, barely daring to ask the most important question that was on his mind, "Steve?"

Taking a deep breath, Chin answered, "All I know is that he made it through surgery and that he's now in the ICU. His doctor wouldn't tell me anything else because I'm not listed as next of kin…" The frustration in Chin's voice was soon replaced by his normal calm tone when he continued, "But she promised to be here shortly."

The next minutes passed agonizingly slow, all three Five-0 members took in a short gasp of relief when the door finally opened and a young, dark-haired doctor entered the room.

Danny's heart sank when he saw Dr. Alakika and Nurse Betsy following straight on her heels. Obviously he wasn't the only one who reckoned the presence of his doctor as a bad sign, out of the corner of his eye he saw Chin moving closer to Kono, protectively wrapping his right arm around her waist.

The young doctor nodded a brief greeting in Chin's and Kono's direction before she turned toward Danny. "Detective Daniel Williams? You're listed as Commander McGarrett's next of kin, is that correct?" She asked, her voice all businesslike but not unfriendly. Her dark hair and tanned skin together with the way she rolled the R's were clear signs of her Hispanic origin. She waited for Danny's affirmative murmur before she continued, "My name is Dr. Lucia Santiago, I'm Commander McGarrett's attending surgeon."

"How is he?" Danny asked impatiently, slightly shifting his weight to get a better look at her.

"Our foremost goal was to take care of the gunshot wound on his right upper arm. The bullet nicked the brachial artery, but we were finally able to repair the damage. He lost a lot of blood and we had a rough time stabilizing his blood pressure." Dr. Santiago interrupted herself, her almost black eyes darkened even more when she quietly said, "I'll be honest with you, it was touch and go for a while and we almost lost him a few times. I was told that the paramedics administered blood transfusions on site? Well, I'm sure that without those, he'd never made it to the hospital."

Williams briefly closed his eyes over her brutally honest words, the sharp intake of breath he heard from Kono matched his own feelings of helplessness and shock.

"Commander McGarrett's blood pressure is still critically low but we're optimistic that with some more blood transfusions and enough fluids we'll get it under control in the next few hours." Dr. Santiago made another short pause, giving the team time to process her words. "Apart from the gunshot wound, he has some cuts and bruises and a broken collarbone. But these are only minor injuries, nothing a few days of rest won't heal."

Danny stared bleakly at the dark-haired doctor, he was sure that there was something else, something she didn't dare tell them so far and his fears were confirmed when she continued, "However, our main concern at the moment is neither the gunshot wound nor any of his other visible injuries."

"What do you mean, 'visible injuries'?" Danny asked frowning, exchanging a quick, confused glance with Chin and Kono.

Looking back at Dr. Santiago, he just saw how she silently communicated with her colleague, the look in both doctors' eyes didn't add to calm Danny's frayed nerves. He felt his heartbeat quicken, a firm throb against his injured ribs.

"I think you're aware of the fact that Commander McGarrett stopped breathing soon after the crash?" Dr. Santiago asked, taking a deep breath as she locked eyes with Danny. "We assume the reason for that is a spinal cord trauma."

Seeing the blank look in Danny's eyes, she explained, "At the moment, Commander McGarrett is not showing any reflexes at all and the fact that he's not able to breathe on his own indicates a spinal cord injury above the fourth cervical or C4, which means the nerves and muscles responsible for breathing are affected. However, neither X-rays nor CAT scans showed any visible damage to the vertebrae or the spinal cord so we're hopeful that it's just what we call a 'spinal concussion'. In that case the loss of function is transient and all reflexes as well as his breathing should be back to normal in the next 48 to 72 hours."

"I… I don't understand…" Danny spluttered, trying to grasp the meaning of her words as he swallowed past the lump in his throat. "Are you trying to tell us that Steve is… that he is… paralyzed?"

"I'm sorry," Dr. Santiago nodded sympathetically, her voice calm and soothing. "But as I said, we're still hopeful that the paralysis is not permanent. The development over the next two or three days will be crucial."

Staring at her in shock, Danny suddenly had the feeling that his chest was too small for his frantically beating heart, he greedily sucked in the air to get rid of the tightness. He felt his stomach clench, the bile rose in his throat, but he no longer had the strength or the willpower to fight. He squeezed his eyes shut, hectically swinging his hands through the air. Just as he started to retch, something was pressed in his hands, leaning slightly forward he emptied the meager contents of his stomach into the bowl.

He didn't notice the steady hand on his forehead or another one soothingly rubbing circles on his back, helping him through this seemingly endless ordeal. When he was finally done and only dry heaves left his throat, he dropped his head back onto the pillow, deeply grateful for the cup that was pressed against his rough lips, for the cool water that washed away the ugly taste in his mouth.

"Sorry," he tried to say but he wasn't sure if he uttered a real word or just some unintelligible mumble, and to be honest, he really didn't care.

His eyes still closed, Williams tried to calm down his erratic breathing, but the more he tried, the more labored it became. He felt sweat running down his face when the agony in his body reached a new, unknown peak, his right hand frantically clenched into a fist.

"10 mg Diazepam IV."

Dr. Alakika's kind voice barely penetrated the fog in Danny's head and before he could react, he felt a warm fire first crawl up his arm, then through his veins and his whole body. He tried to open his eyes but his eyelids were suddenly as heavy as lead and all he could do was blink sluggishly.

His breathing evened out as Danny's body involuntarily relaxed against the soft sheets, all the pain he was suffering, the headache, the pain in his neck and back, the throbbing of his injured ribs slowly retreated one after the other.

The only thing the drug couldn't take away was the worry for his partner, that one feeling remained a constant twitch in his heart, even when all the physical pain faded and Danny finally succumbed to the dark, warm coat of sleep that embraced him.

**(tbc)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

_Blackness._

_Void._

_A cold, endless, black void around him and inside him._

_He couldn't move, he couldn't talk, he couldn't breathe._

_Gathering all his willpower he tried to open his eyes but the pitch darkness pressed heavily against his eyelids._

_Exhausted and confused, he let the black void engulf him, dragging him deeper and deeper back into oblivion._

* * *

><p>Danny drifted in a state somewhere between slumber and alertness, still too tired to completely wake up but yet too awake to go back to sleep. For a short moment he enjoyed the feeling of warmth and security until his memories came back with a vengeance and he was fully alert from one second to the other, his heart thundering and heavy with worry.<p>

He carefully opened his eyes, bracing himself for the onslaught of pain he was sure would soon crash over him. Danny blinked astonished, the light in the room was as bright as he remembered it, but the excruciating headache had decreased to an almost nonexistent throbbing at the back of his skull. He found that the pain from his abused ribs was bearable as long as he didn't breathe too deeply, only his neck and back still hurt like hell whenever he made the slightest movement.

Unable to turn his head – the cervical collar was obviously still there – Danny let his gaze travel across the room. His eyes finally rested on Chin, sitting in one of the chairs beside the bed, deeply engrossed in something he was reading on his tablet PC.

Danny licked his dry lips, then he cleared his throat, saying hoarsely, "Hey."

Chin looked up in surprise, a smile appeared on his face when he noticed that his teammate was awake. Putting the computer aside, he stood up and stepped closer to the bed. "Hey Danny, how do you feel?"

Williams stifled a yawn before he simply answered, "Better." He grinned sheepishly, raising his hand to cover his loudly growling stomach, "I think I'm hungry."

Raising his brows, Chin nodded understandingly, "That's no surprise, brah, you slept for almost twenty hours."

"Twenty hours?" Danny replied, involuntarily mimicking Chin's expression when his own eyebrows shot up. "Wow."

Rubbing his right hand over his face, he locked eyes with Kelly, hesitantly asking the one question that burnt in his mind, "Any news on Steve?"

The tiny flicker of hope that glimmered inside him died down as soon as he saw the sympathetic look in the other man's eyes and he didn't need to hear Chin's quiet answer, "No change so far… I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it's not your fault," Danny murmured, struggling to swallow down the feelings of disappointment, worry and guilt. He waved his uninjured hand through the air, gesturing toward the head of the bed, "Could you help me sit up? I'm tired of lying around…"

"Sure thing," Chin answered, leaning forward to adjust the bed. He chuckled softly when he heard Danny's stomach growl again, even louder than before. "I'll find you something to eat. Anything you prefer?"

"A beer and two burgers?" Danny asked hopefully.

"I'll see what I can do," Chin promised with a twinkle in his eyes, lightly slapping Danny's shoulder before he left the room.

Absorbed in thought, Danny watched the splinted fingers of his left hand for a moment before his gaze fell on Chin's computer. He wasn't able to read the text but he was sure that the picture he saw on the display showed Paul Baines, the man they'd been chasing for the last couple of days. He thought about everything that happened the day before, wondering if they missed something, anything that indicated that they were running straight into a trap. Finally he sighed frustrated, coming to the conclusion that there had been no sign at all that Mrs. Kalili was involved in Baines' drug business or that she knew about his whereabouts. There was nothing they could have done different and yet Danny couldn't stop the feeling of guilt that bubbled up inside him.

Williams looked up when the door opened and Chin returned, carefully balancing a tray in his hands. Grimacing, Danny examined the content of the bowl his teammate placed in front of him, "Vegetable soup? Seriously?" he asked sniffily.

"Sorry, that's all the nurse would allow you," Kelly answered, hiding a chuckle when he saw the crestfallen expression on Danny's face. "But," he continued, a conspiratorial grin upon his lips as he produced two items out of his pocket, "I brought you a coke and a candy bar from the vending machine down the floor. I already figured you won't be too happy about the soup."

Danny's face lit up like a Christmas tree, "Chin Ho Kelly, from now on I officially declare you my best friend forever. Come here so I can kiss you."

Laughing, Chin defensively raised his hands as he sat back down on the chair, "I think I'll have to refuse, brah." Grabbing his tablet PC from the next chair, he resumed reading the article on the display, giving Danny time to eat.

Leaning forward, Danny suspiciously smelled the soup before he tasted a small sip. "That's disgusting," he complained under his breath, wrinkling his nose, but nevertheless he emptied the bowl in the blink of an eye, too hungry to really care about the taste. As soon as he finished it, he dropped the spoon onto the tray, reaching out for the candy, clumsily unwrapping the paper with the intact fingers of his left hand. He took a large bite of the chocolate, chewing on it with a happy sigh before he washed it down with a mouthful of coke, for a short moment shoving all thoughts of Steve and what happened to the back of his mind.

"What are you reading?" Williams asked curiously as he stuffed the second half of the candy bar into his mouth. "I saw Baines' picture on the display."

Looking up from his computer, Chin answered, "We just got the police report from the Maui Police Department…"

"Did they get him?" Danny interrupted, swallowing down the last bit of the chocolate.

Kelly shook his head, "No, unfortunately Baines and his men got away, but MPD were able to chase their tracks down to a small harbor on the West coast of Molokai. According to several witnesses four men left in large speedboat, Coast Guard's been on the lookout for them since yesterday afternoon, but no luck so far."

"What about the old lady? Mrs. Kalili? Did she know anything?" Danny wanted to know, furrowing his brow when he saw the hollow expression on Chin's face.

"Mrs. Kalili locked herself in the house when MPD arrived, screaming at the officers to leave her alone. She seemed to be confused and obviously she felt threatened by the presence of so many policemen… she opened fire with an old shotgun. MPD had to shoot back to defend themselves…" Chin made a short pause, taking a deep breath before he continued, "Mrs. Kalili died in the hospital this morning."

"Shit," Danny whispered, running his uninjured hand through his hair as he breathed out a tired hiss.

"And that's not all, brah," Chin said, flipping through the report on his computer. "You won't believe what the officers found..." He stood up, showing Danny a series of photos on the display.

Squinting his eyes, Danny stared at the pictures for a few moments before his surprised gaze met Chin's. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yeah," Chin nodded, "looks like Baines had been running a secret drug lab, hidden in the jungle behind his foster mother's house."

"So, Mrs. Kalili was involved in the whole business?" Danny asked, confused about those new developments. "Or did Baines just use her place without her knowing?"

"That's the question," Kelly sighed unhappily. "Unfortunately, she can't tell us anymore. Let's hope that we'll get answers when we find Baines."

This case had been weird from the beginning and it seemed to get stranger and stranger with every passing day. Williams closed his eyes, he was suddenly so tired of everything. Tired and angry. God, was he angry; angry that they hadn't dug deeper into Mrs. Kalili's background before they went to visit her, angry that they ran directly in Baines' trap, angry about everything that happened… angry that he hadn't been able to better land that damned helicopter.

Danny vigorously rubbed his face, trying to shut down all the emotions that threatened to suffocate him. He took several deep breaths, barely able to stifle a moan when his injured ribs protested painfully.

"Hey, you okay?" Chin asked concerned, firmly grabbing Danny's arm. He was shocked at the desperation he saw in the younger man's eyes when Williams finally looked up.

"I want to see Steve," Danny whispered hoarsely.

"He'll be alright, okay?" Chin tightened his grip around Danny's biceps, "You have to believe that everything's gonna be alright."

"I want to see him," Danny repeated, wrapping his right hand around Chin's wrist, "please."

Chin nodded, wondering that it actually took Danny this long to address the topic, "Kono and I already talked to Dr. Alakika about that. He said he'll remove the cervical collar this afternoon and if you're feeling up to it, you'll be allowed to get up."

"Okay," Danny said, exhaustedly leaning back against the pillows after a last glance at Chin. "Thanks."

Chin threw a look at his watch, "Listen, Danny, I need to go, Kono's already waiting. I'm going to send Dr. Alakika in and I promise, Kono will be here shortly to keep you company." He closely studied Danny's appearance, "Are you okay? Can I leave you alone?"

"It's okay, I'm fine," Danny replied, tiredly gesturing Chin to leave. He frowned, "Where is Kono now?"

"She's with Steve." Seeing Danny's confused look, Kelly explained, "Since you were brought in, we switch places every two hours, so neither of you has to be alone."

Danny stared at the older man, "You've been here nonstop since yesterday? Sitting here watching us sleep? Why didn't you go home?"

Chin threw him a wry, almost offended look, answering with a counterquestion, "Would you have done that if it was one of us lying here?"

Danny licked his lips, blinking slowly as he tried to get rid of the lump that suddenly formed in his throat. "Thank you," he finally rasped, watching as Kelly headed for the door.

"You're welcome, brah," Kelly replied softly as he pushed down the door handle. "Kono will be here shortly," he repeated reassuringly before he left the room.

* * *

><p><em>His was still unable to open his eyes, but somehow he knew the darkness that surrounded him was no longer pitch black. It now held a tiny bit of gray, a faint shimmer somewhere afar.<em>

_He sensed that someone was there, by his side, chasing a tiny bit of the blackness away._

_Every now and then the faint light changed, but it never completely left, it was always there to ground him, to help him, to guide him through the endless darkness._

_The knowledge that he was no longer alone made it a little bit more bearable not being able to move, to talk, to breathe._

* * *

><p>A few minutes after Chin had left, the door to Danny's room opened and Nurse Betsy came in, her wavy red hair shining in the sunlight that streamed through the window. "Did you enjoy your meal, Detective?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at the sight of the scrunched candy bar wrapping and the empty coke can on the tray.<p>

The prospect of losing the cervical collar and being able to visit Steve helped a lot to lighten up Danny's mood. "It was delicious," he answered, throwing her an impish grin, pretending not to notice her scolding expression.

Slightly shaking her head as she removed the tray, Betsy couldn't help but return the smile, saying good-naturedly, "It's not my fault if you get sick again."

She gently wrapped a blood pressure cuff around Danny's right upper arm and a few moments later, after she had also taken his temperature and pulse, she noted down his vitals on a clipboard.

"Your blood pressure is a little low," Betsy said, stowing the cuff away. "How are you feeling?"

"Ready to get rid of the collar," Danny answered immediately.

"No headache or dizziness?" the nurse asked, regarding him suspiciously.

"A slight headache," Williams admitted, "but nothing I can't handle. It's way better than yesterday."

Before Betsy could ask more questions, the door opened again and Dr. Alakika entered the room. He greeted Danny and threw a look at the clipboard Betsy handed him, then he clapped his hands once, saying brightly, "If you're ready, we can remove the collar."

"More than ready," Danny answered, eager to finally get freed of the restrictive thing around his neck, wearing that cervical collar made him actually feel a bit claustrophobic.

Danny tensed his muscles when Betsy started to take off the collar. Although she was very gentle and careful, the pain in his neck and back increased, radiating to his shoulders, sending an uncomfortable feeling of pins and needles down his arms.

Seeing his patient's face turn pale, Dr. Alakika asked, "On a scale from zero to ten, how's the pain?"

"About seven…" Danny exhaled shakily, "… teen?" He carefully leaned back onto the pillows, breathing through the pain as he tried to relax his cramped muscles.

The doctor nodded sympathetically, "I'll give you a light muscle relaxant, that should help ease the pain. I'm also a bit worried about your blood pressure, I'd like to see it a bit higher before you get up." He motioned the nurse to attach another bag of fluids to Danny's IV line.

"But…" Danny tried to argue, only to be immediately interrupted by Dr. Alakika.

"Listen, Detective, it doesn't help anyone if you're collapsing, not you and certainly not Commander McGarrett." His voice was friendly but firm when he continued, "I promise you can see your partner as soon as possible but first I want you to rest for at least another two hours while the infusion helps to increase your blood pressure. Are we clear?"

Staring defiantly at the Hawaiian doctor, Danny finally sighed, admitting defeat. He nodded carefully, clenching his teeth when the small movement sent another wave of pain through his body.

"Okay, good," Dr. Alakika said, pleased about Williams' concession, "then we have a deal."

After giving Nurse Betsy some more instructions about further treatment, the doctor headed for the door, turning around a last time. "Oh, Detective Williams, before I forget," he said smilingly, "I'd like to keep you here one more night for observation. If everything looks fine, you'll be released tomorrow morning."

* * *

><p><em>The light by his side was shining brighter, fighting back the darkness that surrounded him, that pressed against his eyes, against his ears, against his whole body.<em>

_And with the light came a bunch of feelings._

_Familiarity. Friendship. Security. Love._

_Suddenly he knew where the light came from, names and faces buzzed through the darkness, his friends, his Ohana were waiting by his side, waiting for him to reach out for them, waiting for any sign that he seized their presence._

_But as much as he struggled, he still couldn't move, he couldn't even blink._

_The light was always there by his side, waiting patiently. It was always there, so close and yet so far away._

* * *

><p>Danny's eyes darted between the IV bag and the clock on the wall, his impatience increasing with every passing second. He sighed angrily, only forty-three minutes since the doctor had left the room, which means he had to wait at least another hour before he was allowed to get up.<p>

He looked at Kono, who'd tried her best to cheer him up, but when he just stared at her grumpily, not answering her questions or reacting to her stories, she finally fell silent, closely watching him with worried eyes. Danny sighed again, he truly felt sorry for her, he knew that none of this was her fault, but he just couldn't pull himself together enough to answer her.

Getting more and more antsy with every passing moment, Danny wished nothing more than rip out the stupid IV line. Frustrated, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to shut out all the emotions that flooded his mind, all the memories of the flight to Molokai and back. But all he could think of was the time in the cockpit, Steve's last words before he passed out, the many rescue vehicles waiting for them at the airfield, the horrible noises when the helicopter finally touched the ground…

Williams jerked awake when someone gently shook his shoulder, surprised that sleep had obviously claimed him, regardless of all his pent-up emotions. He ran a shaky hand through his hair, confusedly staring at Kono for moment before he recognized his surroundings.

Kono smiled apologetically, feeling sorry for disturbing his sleep. Danny hadn't even noticed that the nurse had been in to remove the IV line, but Kono knew that Danny was desperate to see Steve and he would never forgive her if she didn't wake him as soon as the infusion was finished. "Hey, Danny," she said, her hand warm and heavy on his shoulder, "ready to get up?"

Slightly nodding, Danny thankfully accepted Kono's help as he sat up. The pain in his neck and back was still there, but it was much better than before, and the infusion had helped to get rid of the headache. Maybe the medication and the two hour wait hadn't been such a bad idea after all, he grudgingly had to admit.

Danny winced at the sight of the wheelchair in front of his bed, throwing a pleading look at Kono. "Is that really necessary?"

Returning the look, the young woman answered sympathetically, "Sorry, brah, you know the rules." She turned around, taking a bunch of clothes from one of the chairs beside the bed. "But Chin brought something for you, we figured you'd rather wear that than this fancy hospital gown," she said with a meaningful glance at his current outfit as she handed him a pair of dark blue sweat pants and a gray t-shirt.

"I'll wait outside while you change, give me a call if you need help," Kono said, chuckling at the expression on Danny's face, a mix of astonishment, gratitude, and embarrassment, and before Williams was able to answer, she had already left the room.

Danny put on his new clothes as fast as possible, awkwardly maneuvering his splinted fingers through the armhole of the t-shirt. The pant legs were a bit long but since he wasn't allowed to walk he figured that was something he really didn't care about.

Feeling much more human now with real clothes instead of the embarrassing hospital gown (which, to make things worse, was printed with little, colorful pineapples), Danny was even able to swallow down his feelings against the damn wheelchair. He hated the fact that Kono had to wheel him along the corridors, but he also knew that she didn't mind and that she was probably glad to finally have something useful to do.

When they reached the ICU ward a few minutes later and Kono was just about to open the door to McGarrett's room, Danny suddenly begged her to stop for a second. She placed her hand on his left shoulder, asking worriedly, "You okay, brah?"

With a little nod of his head Danny reassured her that he was alright, then he wrapped his right hand around Kono's hand, squeezed it tightly and took a deep breath. "Mahalo," he said sincerely, knowing that the use of the Hawaiian expression would tell Kono everything she needed to know, that he was sorry for his earlier behavior and that he was really grateful for everything she – and Chin – had done during the last 24 hours.

"A 'ole pilikia," Kono replied, and even without seeing her face, Danny knew that she smiled. "You're welcome," she translated and he felt her squeezing his shoulder before she slowly removed her hand. "Are you ready to go in?"

Williams took another deep breath and nodded again. "No," he said quietly, hearing Kono heave a little sigh at his contradictory response, but before he could say anything else, she moved on and wheeled him into Steve's cubicle.

The room was surprisingly spacious, probably to store the tons of medical equipment that were arranged around the bed. Dr. Santiago closely watched the figures on one of the monitors, checking the vitals against her records while Chin sat in the only chair, as close as possible to the head of the bed, immediately standing up when he saw Kono and Danny came in.

Danny ignored the doctor as well as his teammate, his eyes completely fixed at Steve. Although he knew what to expect he wasn't prepared for the onslaught of feelings that crashed over him. To see his partner, his best friend, lying there motionless, the breathing tube, the IV lines, the many wires and monitoring electrodes, in addition to Steve's pale, sunken face – all that together was almost too much and Danny felt his throat painfully tie up.

He took a trembling breath, his uninjured hand repeatedly clenching and unclenching. The constant hiss of the ventilator roared in Danny's ears, drawing his attention to Steve's chest that rose and fell in time with the noise.

"Detective Williams?"

Reluctant to avert his gaze from his partner, Danny slowly looked at Dr. Santiago, despair and hope battling for dominance in his eyes. "Doc…" he had to clear his throat before he was able to continue, "how is he?"

"As presumed, Commander McGarrett's blood pressure has stabilized, he recovered well from the operation and from the blood loss, the gunshot wound looks good." She smiled briefly before her face turned serious again. "Our main concern is still the trauma to the spinal cord. We ran some further tests and we are still hopeful that the paralysis is reversible." Seeing the desperate expression on Danny's face, she quickly added, "It's still early, the crash was just about 24 hours ago. I already told you that recovery is possible up to 72 hours after the trauma. Don't give up hope yet."

"But what exactly caused such a trauma?" Williams suddenly wanted to know. He remembered the doctor telling him that there was no visible injury to the vertebrae and to the spinal cord, but why had the crash left Steve with such a trauma while he, Danny, had just sustained a mere whiplash.

Perhaps not only Steve had a face because the doctor seemed to understand exactly what Danny was asking. "You want to know why he was affected like this and you were not," Dr. Santiago guessed, not waiting for Danny to react before she started to explain. "You see, the muscles are there to stabilize our body, for example the muscles in your neck and shoulders help stabilize your head. But when we are asleep – or unconscious," she illustrated with a glance toward the bed, "the muscle tone is reduced or rather nonexistent. That's why in Commander McGarrett's case, the spinal cord unfortunately took the full impact of the crash."

She tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear and watched Danny for a second before she threw a brief look at her watch," I'm sorry, Detective Williams, but I have to perform a surgery in a few minutes. Do you have any more questions?"

Danny looked up at Dr. Santiago, hesitantly asking, "When… when will he wake up?"

The young doctor pursed her lips as she locked eyes with Danny. "As I said, he recovered well from the operation so under normal circumstances he would probably be awake by now. But given the fact that he's not able to breathe on his own, we placed him in an artificial coma in order to tolerate the ventilator tube."

Briefly checking her watch once more, Dr. Santiago said apologetically as she walked towards the door, "I'm sorry, I really have to go. I'll be back later if you have any more questions." With a last look at the monitors the doctor left the room, leaving the Five-0 team behind, each of them pondering her recent words.

"It's all my fault," Danny murmured finally after some long minutes of silence. "Why did I drop my damned phone, with some advice I would have been able to better land that helicopter. I should have listened to Steve, he tried to explain me how to land, but I… I was just too angry to listen properly…" his voice trailing off as he banged his fist on his thigh. "It'll be my fault if he is never able to walk again or even breathe on his own. My fault…"

Danny took a shuddering breath, rubbing his forehead with trembling fingers. He heard Kono gasped behind him at his outburst, but it was Chin who rose to speak.

"You know what your fault is?" Kelly asked, his voice deep from restrained emotions. "It's your _fault_ that you're both still alive." He circled Danny's wheelchair, crouching down in front of the younger man so that he could look him in the eyes. "You did an incredible job, landing that helicopter. No one on the ground, not a single one of those firemen, or paramedics, or airfield staff, thought that someone who never landed a helicopter before would be able to come out of this alive. Not a single one of them thought that you would make it. You're both alive, Danny, because _you_ managed not only to fly the helicopter but also bring it down." Chin waited until Danny's eyes finally met his. "Do you hear me? You're both alive because of you."

Danny stared at his teammate for a long moment before he lowered his gaze. "But that's not life…" he whispered, pointing weakly toward the bed as he blinked rapidly against the tears in his eyes. "Chin, what do we do if he's not getting better? What do we do if…"

"Danny, you heard the doc," Kono jumped in before Danny was able to finish his sentence, "we must not abandon hope, it's still too early to tell anything."

"Kono's right," Chin confirmed his cousin's words. "But if the worst case happens, then we will be there for Steve, okay? We will be there for him, supporting him wherever we can." He stood up, briefly squeezing Danny's forearm, "But that's something we think about when the time comes. Now it's time for hope, not for grief."

Danny took a deep breath, suddenly too tired to argue any more. "Could you…" he addressed his teammates, swallowing heavily, "could you leave me alone with Steve? Please?"

Chin stared at him for a moment before he finally nodded in affirmation, reassuringly slapping Danny on the shoulder before he left the room.

Kono bent down, quickly hugging Danny as she whispered, "We'll be waiting outside, give us a call if you need anything." Then she swiftly followed her cousin, granting Danny some much needed space and time to cope with his feelings.

* * *

><p><em>A new light had joined his side, and even more of the darkness disappeared, black changed into a light gray.<em>

_He felt like a heavy weight was lifted from him, the darkness no longer muted him. He could hear a voice, but he was not sure what it was saying._

_It doesn't matter, he didn't need to hear the words, he knew that the voice meant friendship, security, safety._

_One blink of an eye, a twitch of his fingers, just one tiny little movement was all he needed to leave the darkness and he struggled heavily against the invisible ties that kept him from moving._

_The lights swirled around him, faster and faster, and they carried him away, away from the darkness._

**(tbc)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

"No change, I'm sorry."

Every hour a nurse or a doctor came in, testing if Steve's reflexes were back, but so far the answer to Danny's unspoken question had always been the same. He had heard that statement so many times by now, he was sure that the next time someone uttered that sentence he would smash one of the many instruments around Steve's bed.

Danny felt so helpless, so useless. So damn useless.

All he could do was sit by Steve's side and wait, wait for any sign that he might get better. He couldn't even pray that Steve would come round because Danny knew he would only wake up when the doctors finally decided to bring him out of the artificial coma.

Heaving a sigh, Williams closed his eyes, tiredly rubbing a hand across his face. He didn't know exactly how many hours he already spent here, but judging how the cramped muscles in his neck and back screamed and burnt it must be quite some time.

As Dr. Alakika had promised, Danny had been released earlier this morning, after a restless night, his sleep interrupted by more than one nightmare. But instead of heeding his doctor's advice to go home and rest, Danny immediately went back to Steve's bedside.

Chin and Kono kept him company until a call from MPD came in, asking for their assistance; Coast Guard found an abandoned boat halfway between Molokai and Maui, the three dead bodies on board matched the description of Paul Baines' accomplices. After the cousins assured themselves that Danny would be fine on his own, they reluctantly left their teammates, promising to be back as soon as possible.

Danny stood up from the uncomfortable chair next to Steve's bed, cautiously stretching his aching body. He looked down at his partner, apart from the mechanical rise and fall of Steve's chest, the only change was a tiny movement of eyeballs behind closed eyelids once in a while, accompanied by a slight, almost invisible frown. Danny didn't know why but somehow that movement gave him the impression that Steve was in stress, as if bad dreams were rushing through his sleeping mind. So each time Danny noticed the movement, he gently placed his right hand on McGarrett's forehead, and soon enough Steve relaxed under Danny's touch.

It must be way past noon by now which meant that more than fifty hours had passed since the crash. Fifty hours of waiting and hoping and trepidation, but still no sign of change.

Williams had never been cold since he moved to Hawaii, not one single time he had been freezing. On the contrary, he was always sweating, always complaining about the heat, cherishing the air con more than anything else.

But now he involuntarily wrapped both arms around his body to save the last bit of warmth inside of him, not caring that his broken and cracked ribs hurt like hell. Every once in a while a shiver would run down his spine, a shiver from a coldness that no amount of Hawaiian sun, no matter how bright and hot, could chase away. Because the coldness didn't come from outside, it was as if he was freezing from the inside and he knew for sure that nothing but the tiniest of movement from his partner could melt the ice inside him.

Danny just longed for a little bit of warmth and suddenly he found it extremely difficult to draw in enough air, he felt like the whole environment was suffocating him. He swallowed convulsively as a wave of dizziness rolled over him.

Leaving Steve alone was the last thing he wanted to do but he knew that he either would throw up or collapse right where he was if he just stayed one second longer in that room. With the last bit of strength Danny could muster, he squeezed Steve's shoulder, whispering, "Hang on, buddy, I just need some fresh air, I'll be back in no time."

Two minutes later, Danny stumbled out of the hospital building into the warm afternoon breeze, heading for the first seat that came to his sight. His heart heavy with guilt that he left Steve alone, he dropped down, greedily sucking in the clean, fresh air.

He had no idea what was wrong with him, never before he had experienced something like a panic attack but this felt pretty damn close to one. Danny squeezed his eyes shut as the world began to spin around him, the blood loudly rushing in his ears. Gritting his teeth, he leaned forward, putting his head between his knees, ignoring the fact that his ribs and neck protested painfully, because passing out like a schoolgirl at a Justin Bieber concert was not an acceptable option.

Danny tried to breathe slowly and deeply and to his relief it seemed to work, the dizziness began to retreat only a few moments later. After a while he carefully sat up, turning his face toward the bright rays of sunshine, gladly bathing in their warmth for another minute.

The fresh air helped immensely to clear his mind and after a final deep breath, Danny rubbed his eyes and stood up. He made a small detour via the cafeteria, granting himself a strong, black coffee, before he hasted back to McGarrett's room.

Williams almost dropped the paper cup as he left the elevator, noticing Dr. Santiago rush into Steve's ICU cubicle.

"What's wrong?" he asked breathlessly, chasing after her to his partner's side.

Bracing himself for the worst, whatever that might be, Danny anxiously looked at the young doctor, but nothing could have prepared him for the expression he saw on her face. His legs almost gave out and he weakly leaned against the bed, the huge smile on Dr. Santiago's lips telling him everything he needed to know.

Steve was going to be alright.

* * *

><p>Danny grinned wryly, remembering the ringing in his ears, caused by Kono's excited scream over the cell phone when he had called her and Chin a few hours ago to tell them the news about Steve. They were still on Maui, trying to find out the whereabouts of Paul Baines, but it seemed like once again the man had disappeared without a trace, leaving behind nothing but the dead bodies of his three accomplices.<p>

Heaving a little sigh, Danny shoved the unpleasant thoughts about Baines to the back of his mind, turning his attention back to his partner. Dr. Santiago was very pleased with the progress Steve was showing, as soon as he started to breathe on his own, the ventilator tube had been removed and Steve had been moved to a private room.

Although Danny felt much better, now he knew that McGarrett would be alright, however he was still pretty impatient for him to wake up. He knew that the tenseness inside him would only completely go away when he saw Steve alert and talking, but the effect of the drug induced coma wore off slowly and according to the doctor it might be another few hours before Steve would regain consciousness.

True to her words, evening had long turned into night when Steve finally began to stir.

Danny got up from his chair when he noticed the slight change in his partner's breathing frequency, forgetting his own tiredness as he gently placed his right hand on Steve's shoulder, hoping that it would ease his friend's way back into consciousness.

Another few minutes passed agonizingly slow, but finally Steve breathed out a soft moan and his eyelids slowly fluttered open. He licked his lips, blinking a few times as his gaze sluggishly traveled around the room, taking in his surroundings. Danny gently squeezed McGarrett's shoulder, keeping the physical contact until Steve's eyes finally found his.

"It's about time that you came round, Popeye," Williams said quietly, unable to completely hide the relieved smile that spread across his face. "It's not nice to keep people waiting for so long."

Steve frowned, once more running his tongue over his dry lips before he whispered hoarsely, "… 'm not Popeye…"

Danny raised his brows, cheerfully arguing his point, "Why not, you're a sailor, you got the tattoos, only thing missing is the pipe." He barely managed to stifle a chuckle at Steve's pitiful attempt to glare at him.

"…don't like spinach…" Steve finally rasped out. Danny winced sympathetically as he saw Steve's pained effort to swallow, his throat probably raw from the ventilator tube.

"Seriously? You don't like spinach? But it's healthy and makes you big and strong," Danny briefly chuckled before he got serious, reaching for the glass of water on the bedstand. "How about some water to soothe your throat?"

McGarrett nodded, gratefully taking a few sips, closing his eyes as the cool water ran down his aching throat. "Thanks," he murmured, his voice still hoarse but remarkably smoother than before. Watching as his partner put the glass back on the bedstand, Steve noticed Danny's splinted fingers and his somewhat stiff movements.

Cautiously clearing his throat, Steve asked concerned, "Are you ok?"

Danny stared at Steve for almost a minute before he nodded tiredly, "I am now." He heavily dropped down on the edge of the bed, pondering his next words. He locked eyes with McGarrett, and when he finally rose to speak, his voice was low but firm, "Let me put two things straight. First, I don't care where you got hit, the next time I tell you to wear your vest, Steven… just do it, okay? And second, I'll never again go anywhere near a helicopter, ever in my entire life."

"Helicopter?" Steve asked perplexed but as soon as he uttered the word, his memories resurfaced and his eyes grew wide. His left hand involuntarily rubbed over the bandage on his right upper arm as he exclaimed, "Oh, shit."

Danny chuckled mirthlessly, "Yeah, shit. You could say that…"

"What happened?" Steve wanted to know, his eyes fixed on Danny's face. "We're still here, so I guess you managed to land the helicopter?"

"Well, depends on how you define 'land'." Danny replied dryly, throwing a wry look at the other man. "I rather call it a crash than a landing, I fear you won't get back your deposit for the helicopter."

Taking in Danny's worn out posture, Steve suddenly realized that it apparently had been a rough time for his partner. "That bad?" he asked hesitantly.

Williams heaved a deep sigh, silently nodding his head.

Steve swallowed, briefly squinting his eyes at the pain in his throat. "How long have I been out?"

"A little bit more than 60 hours," Danny replied, exhaustedly scrubbing his right hand over his face. "You've been on a ventilator most of the time."

McGarrett gasped at the mention of the time span, confusedly repeating his question from before, "What happened?"

Cocking his head, Danny briefly chewed on his lower lip, "You decided that moving and breathing wasn't necessary any longer."

"I don't understand…" Steve said frowning as he shook his head ever so slightly, intensely staring at the other man.

"I'm sure, your doctor can explain this much better, but from what I understood," Danny explained tiredly, "you suffered some sort of trauma to the spinal cord which temporarily deprived you of the ability to move or to breathe on your own." He took a deep breath, "You had us quite worried for a while…"

Danny interrupted himself as he saw the terrified expression on Steve's face. "Hey, Steve, keep calm. It's okay, you're fine now, there will be no permanent damage, okay?" Danny quickly reassured, placing his hand on Steve's arm. "You'll be back to your old bothersome self in no time, doing everything to make my life miserable," he added, a wry smile on his lips.

"I make your life miserable?" McGarrett asked, raising his eyebrows as he gladly accepted Danny's obvious attempt to enlighten the mood. "I don't know what you're talking about. What did I ever do to make your life miserable?"

"Oh, there are so many things, I honestly don't know where to start, Steven," Danny answered, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "You force me to land a damn helicopter, you get me shot, you drive like a maniac… is that enough for a start?" Locking eyes with Steve, he added, "Oh, did I mention the helicopter thing?"

"I thought you like flying," Steve smirked.

"Yeah, I did," Danny glared at his partner. "But that was before you passed out, miles up in the air, leaving me with a broken radio and the need to land that huge piece of metal on my own. Thanks to you, I really lost any desire to fly ever again."

"Oh come on, Danny, I think you're a natural. Not many people would have been able to accomplish what you did," Steve said earnestly. "You really should take flying lessons and finally achieve your pilot's license."

Danny vehemently shook his head, defensively waving his arms through the air. "Let me put this straight once and for all, Steven. As I said before, I will never ever go back in a helicopter cockpit, not with you and certainly not alone."

Steve looked at his partner for a long moment, a slight smile finally creeping across his face. "Believe me, Danno, you will be back in a cockpit sooner or later," he said confidently. "I know you…"

"Oh, you know me?" Danny asked, still shaking his head. "But this time you're incorrect, Nostradamus. Trust me, you've never been more incorrect in your whole life."

**(tbc)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Note:  
><strong>Here it is, the final chapter - thank you so much for sticking around until the end, for all your nice reviews and for all the alerts and favorites :-)**  
><strong>

Again, the biggest thank-you to **montez** for betaing my story, I owe you! *hugs*  
>Thank you, <strong>ShakespeareIsMyMuse<strong>, for your great comments, I really appreciate your advice.

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><p><strong>Epilogue:<strong>

_When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return. (Leonardo da Vinci, 1452 – 1519)_

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><p><em>Six months later…<em>

Squinting his eyes against the bright Hawaiian sun, Danny pulled the cyclic stick to the right, causing the small black helicopter to fly a soft curve over the ocean. He smiled, enjoying the short-lived feelings of independence and peace before he'd have to face his most dreaded task.

As much as it hurt to admit, McGarrett had been right after all – Danny was back in a cockpit only a few days after Steve had been released from the hospital. During the last six months he had spent every spare second of his life cramming and practicing for his pilot's license and today was the first time he was flying alone. So far everything had been going as smooth as expected, the take off and the flight itself had never been a problem.

No, it was the landing that worried Danny the most, too many bad memories resurfacing in his mind every time he neared the runway. Trying to get rid of those unwanted emotions, his left hand involuntarily curled into a fist, sending a faint wave of pain through his pinky and ring finger. The pain in his once broken fingers was the only reminder of the horrible crash half a year ago, but it was a price he didn't mind to pay as long as it meant that he and Steve came out of it alive and safe.

Danny looked out of the window, only a few more minutes before he would be back at the small airfield. He felt his heart beating in his chest a little too fast, and he noticed that his fingers trembled slightly when he raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Taking a deep breath, Danny unsuccessfully tried to calm his frayed nerves.

During his many flight lessons he'd performed countless take offs and landings, but never alone, always with his flight instructor right by his side. Not a single one of those landings had actually required the assistance of his instructor and yet it was something completely different to be all alone in the cockpit.

Williams took another deep breath, convincing himself once more that he was fully capable of landing the helicopter, in a few moments he would safely be back on the ground. He hadn't told his teammates that today was his first solo flight because he somehow felt that it was something he wanted, he needed to face alone.

The landing area slowly came nearer, but this time no security vehicles were waiting for him next to the runway. He briefly squeezed his eyes shut to chase away that last bit of unwelcome memories, tightening his grip around the flight controls as he flew a big circle over the airfield.

Danny looked up in surprise when he heard static crackle over his headphones. A short glance at the radio controls told him that everything was fine but then he winced slightly when a well-known voice sounded in his ears.

"Hey Captain Danno, this is Nostradamus speaking. How ya doing up there?"

Fighting back an annoyed groan, Danny rolled his eyes. Wasn't there anything at all he could hide from McGarrett? How on earth had the guy found out that he was flying today?

"Steven, what are you doing here?" he asked exasperated, adjusting his microphone in front of his mouth. "Don't you have some fancy little SEAL business to do? Something to blow up? Some ultra-classified mission somewhere far away?"

"Nope, nothing. Today's completely reserved for mission 'Danno's first solo flight'," Steve said happily. "Why didn't you tell me that today was the big day? Didn't you want your partner to witness your triumph over gravity?" There was a little pause and Danny could practically hear Steve's goofy grin. "Or did you fear I'd witness you going all sissy about your upcoming task?"

"Going all sissy? On that you can wait until hell freezes over, you jerk. I've had about three million flying lessons during the last six months, believe me, I'm perfectly capable of landing this pretty little helicopter," Williams replied self-confident, even if moments ago he wasn't so sure about his capabilities.

"That's good to hear, brah," a female voice came through the headphones. "Try not to smash one of the buildings this time."

"Yeah, and if possible return the helicopter in one piece," a third voice joined in.

Danny wanted nothing more than slap his forehead in annoyance, now the whole team was there? He pursed his lips, so much for facing his first solo flight alone.

"Kalakaua and Kelly, the crazy chaos cousins, how nice that you joined the little party," he said, his voice dripping with faked sarcasm. "Even if I can't remember having invited you."

"Hey brah, you don't want us here? That really hurts," Chin replied good-naturedly. "What happened to _best friend forever_?"

"Wait, wait, wait, what does that mean? I thought I was your best friend, Danno?" McGarrett chimed in before Danny could answer.

Danny grinned mischievously, "Bad luck, Steven, you gambled that away when you were lying around motionless for days while I was not only starving but also in danger of getting poisoned with vegetable soup. That's when Chin earned that position by bringing me something proper to eat."

"If I remember correctly, it was a mere candy bar," Chin modestly played down his role while Danny could hear Kono chuckling in the background.

"Seriously? You traded me for some chocolate?" Steve asked and even if Williams could not see it, he was convinced that there was a pout on the other man's face. "Wow… that's just… wow."

"Well, face it, babe," Danny replied unperturbedly, "that's life."

"Hm," McGarrett mumbled grumpily, changing the subject as he asked, "are you gonna talk the whole day or do you plan on joining us down here sometime soon?"

"I'm not sure. Perhaps I'll fly another round and look for a quieter place to land, there's way too much blather around here," Williams answered impishly. "And now shut up, will you? I need to concentrate…"

"Okay," McGarrett agreed immediately, "see you soon, Danno."

"Good luck," Chin and Kono said almost in unison and the static crackle in Danny's headphones died down as abrupt as it had begun.

Danny slightly shook his head, he had absolutely no idea how they found out about his flight today, but suddenly he was glad that his team was there waiting for him, he felt much calmer now, their presence somehow seemed to help him keep his emotions at bay.

He took a last deep breath, recalling everything his flight instructor had told him about landing a helicopter. Danny blanked out everything else, solely concentrating on the flight controls and on his designated landing area.

Handling the controls as if he'd never done anything else in his life, the aircraft came down slowly and steadily and before Danny knew what happened, he felt the skids smoothly touch the ground.

Unconsciously shutting down the engine, Danny slipped off the headphones in one swift move. He watched the rotor blades sluggishly coming to a halt as he leaned back in the seat, suddenly all the tension dropped away from him and a big grin spread on his face.

He'd done it.

He'd really done it.

Bathing another moment in these glorious feelings of success and satisfaction that streamed through his mind and body, he just sat there, completely happy and at peace with the world and himself.

After a few heartbeats Williams took a deep breath and opened the door, nonchalantly jumping out of the helicopter, slowly crossing the airfield to join his teammates who were waiting for him in the shadow of a small hangar.

The big grin still on his face, Danny came to a halt a few steps in front of the little group, casually spreading his arms in a piece-of-cake gesture and before he could react he found himself in a vivid, bone-crushing group hug. Congratulations were shouted in his ears, he felt hands patting on his back and he wasn't completely sure if the tightness in his chest was a result of the fierce hug or of the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him.

"Enough, you're crushing me," he said, choked up, as he tried to wiggle himself free from the embrace until the arms around him finally loosened. Danny looked up into three beaming faces, knowing that his face probably mirrored the very same expression.

"How did you guys find me?" he wanted to know, raising his eyebrows when he saw the expression on their faces slowly turn from cheerful into sheepish. Steve exchanged a look with Kono and Chin but none of them seemed eager to answer Danny's question.

Danny sighed quietly as he slightly turned to the left, directly facing Chin. "You triangulated my cell phone," he mused, waving his hands through the air.

"I'm totally innocent," Chin replied with a little smile, defensively raising his arms.

Staring at the older man for another second, Danny finally averted his gaze, stabbing his finger in Kono's direction. "You hacked into my online calendar," he accused the young woman.

Kono fiercely shook her head, looking at him in shock, "I would never do something like that, brah."

"Yeah, right," Danny murmured under his breath, earning an impish grin from Kono.

Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Williams narrowed his eyes, taking a deep breath before he addressed his partner, "Okay, what did you do? Did you spy on me via satellite? Attach a tracking device to my car or my clothes? Did you threaten my flight instructor? God, you didn't torture him, did you? Is he still alive?"

Steve grinned broadly as he replied, "Dammit, I hadn't thought about that, that would probably have worked too."

Danny cocked his head, looking appraisingly at the other man, not really convinced that McGarrett was joking.

"Honestly, guys, how did you know I was here today?" he impatiently rephrased his former question.

"Well, you know, one of the secretaries in the office over there…" Chin started to explain, vaguely gesturing toward one of the small buildings nearby.

Danny rolled his eyes, suddenly pretty sure where this would lead. "Let me guess, she's your… cousin? Aunt? Sister-in-law? Grandmother? Ex-wife?"

Kono burst out into laughter, barely bracing herself enough to chime in, "You're almost there, brah, she's my neighbor's girlfriend."

"Your neighbor's girlfriend? That means, she's not even related to you?" Danny frowned in astonishment. "I'm shocked, I thought the whole bloody island is related to you," he said, the grin back on his face. After all, he was kind of pleased that his team obviously cared so much about him.

Rubbing his hands, Williams looked expectantly at the three people in front of him, "Okay, now this is cleared, tell me what you think about my landing? Did I good?"

"Good?" McGarrett shook his head, failing miserably to hide his smirk behind a straight face. "I don't think you did good, buddy." He turned his head toward Kono and Chin, "What do you think, did he good?"

Danny narrowed his eyes as he saw the cousins also shaking their heads. Not really knowing what his friends were up to, he looked suspiciously at the three people in front of him, impatiently waiting for further explanations.

"You don't know the saying about landings, do you?" Kono finally took pity on him.

"No?" Danny answered hesitantly.

"Well, any landing you walk away from is a 'good' landing," Chin explained good-humoredly. "But I think your landing today would rather be marked as 'great'."

"Yeah, because a 'great' landing is one after which they can use the helicopter again," Steve said, laughing happily.

Danny stared at his partner for the blink of an eye before he joined him in his laughter, "I think your definition sucks a little because it means that our landing half a year ago was 'good'?"

"We didn't exactly walk away from it, but yes, according to that definition, it probably was a good landing," McGarrett nodded pensively.

"Well, good enough, since we're both alive," Danny replied quietly, hoping that the unpleasant memories of that fateful day would soon fade away.

"Good enough, that's true," Steve agreed, wrapping his arm around Danny's shoulder as they walked together toward the parking lot.

Only a few steps later, Steve once more rose to speak, "Let's talk about this best friend forever thing..."

"Jeez, McGarrett, how old are you?" Danny asked, rolling his eyes as he looked up at his partner. He blinked in surprise when he saw the expression on Steve's face. "What's that face? Are you… are you really upset that I called Chin my best friend?"

"I'm not upset," Steve denied sheepishly, unable to completely banish the pout from his face.

Williams tried his best to suppress the laughter that tickled in his throat. "Okay, listen you goof, here's a deal. Beers are on you today and you're back in business," he offered, immediately knowing that this was exactly the right thing to say when Steve's face lit up.

"Deal?" McGarrett asked, briefly squeezing Danny's biceps, his arm still loosely resting on the smaller man's shoulders.

"Deal," Danny nodded good-naturedly. He would never admit it, but Steve always held a special place in his heart and no amount of candy could ever change that.

**THE END**

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><p><strong>Note:<br>**So, Paul Baines is still on the run, but I'm pretty sure that I can see him, somewhere on one of the beautiful Hawaiian Islands, sitting on a chair, planning his revenge while petting the nice little plot bunny that is sitting on his lap ;-) As soon as he's willing to unleash it, there will probably be a sequel to this story...**  
><strong>


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